Theresa May resigns: Boris Johnson threatens no-deal Brexit as prominent Conservatives announce bids to replace PM
MPs pay tribute to ‘dignified’ prime minister as leadership race intensifies
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Your support makes all the difference.Theresa May announced her resignation in an emotional speech on Friday, in which she said she would stand down as Conservative party leader on 7 June.
Ms May said she had “done my best” in a speech from Downing Street, before the Tory party announced a new prime minister would be in No.10 by 31 July.
Watched by husband Philip, Ms May’s voice cracked as she said it had been “the honour of my life” to serve as PM and she felt “enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love”.
In an apparent warning to the Conservative Party not to pursue a no-deal Brexit after she goes, Ms May said her successor will need to pursue compromise to find a way of delivering the result of the 2016 referendum and taking the UK out of the EU in a way that protects jobs, security and the Union.
But Tory leadership contenders are now ramping up their efforts to replace her, ahead of the official start of the contest.
Boris Johnson emerged as the bookmakers’ favourite to succeed Ms May, as Jeremy Hunt and Sir Graham Brady announced they would stand.
Mr Johnson said the prime minister had been “patient and stoical” in her failed attempt to solve the Brexit crisis.
“The job of our next leader in the UK, he or she, is to get out of the EU properly and put Brexit to bed,” Mr Johnson said.
“We will leave the EU on 31 October, deal or no deal,” the former foreign secretary said, adding a second referendum on EU membership would be a “very bad idea”.
Conservative MPs also paid tribute to the dignified manner in which Theresa May announced her departure.
“Delivering Brexit was always going to be a huge task,” said Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
“But one she met every day with courage and resolve...a true public servant.”
Additional reporting by agencies
If you would like to see how the day’s news from Westminster unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
Boris Johnson has been speaking about Brexit and the prospect of a no deal exit at an economic conference in Switzerland this afternoon following May’s resignation announcement.
He said the UK should be prepared to walk out of the EU without a deal if it is to negotiate a suitable exit agreement, according to Reuters.
“The way to get a good deal is to prepare for a no deal,” said the Tory leadership favourite. “We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal.”
In a reference to May’s departure, he added: “It turned out to be quite a good day to be out of London … We are at a very interesting point in political history”.
More on Boris Johnson’s big Brexit speech in Switzerland, where he said the UK will be leaving the EU in October “deal or no deal”.
Czech prime minister Andrej Babis says he hopes that Britain will hold another referendum on leaving the EU after Theresa May announced her resignation.
Babis said: “I still hope that [Britain] will hold a snap election and at the end they will have one more referendum. That the [British] people finally understand that the misinformation that that they received [about Brexit] is not true and Britain will stay in the European Union.”
Babis says he thinks that would “the best for all”. He has called Britain one of the best allies of his country in the bloc because “it’s a big state that counterbalances the dominance of Germany and France”.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said it was “disgraceful” of Theresa May to cite her response to the Grenfell fire disaster as a proud part of her legacy.
Here’s Jon Sharman with more details.
Rumoured earlier today, but there is now confirmation that Sir Graham Brady will stand in the Tory leadership contest.
He said: “I have made the decision to stand down as chair of the 1922 committee in order to ensure a fair and transparent election process. I am considering the approaches I have received and will make a decision in due course.”
Theresa May will reportedly remain in the Commons as MP for Maidenhead, and won’t decide her future in the chamber until the next general election.
What does Boris Johnson believe in? Here’s our political correspondent Lizzy Buchan will a look at the Tory leadership favourite’s voting record.
Sir Graham Brady already has fan accounts on Twitter backing his leadership bid.
Theresa May’s constituency chairman Richard Kellaway has been talking about her decision to stay on as MP for Maidenhead. “The main concern for us as her association is that she's not going to resign her seat,” he said. “She will carry on as a member of parliament, which is welcomed by us.”
Mr Kellaway compared the Prime Minister's emotional speech to a eulogy, and said she had spoken “extremely well”.
“It’s like any speech at a funeral or a wedding, even,” he said. “You get through it. She spoke extremely well I thought, it was really just at the end when she got a bit emotional.
“It's highly understandable that giving up a high office like that is stressful and very, very sad.”
More from Boris Johnson’s speech in Switzerland. He said Britain could forge a “fantastic free trade relationship" with Europe after it quits the EU, but can also be a champion for global free trade.
The UK has the world’s most diverse capital, along with a world class technology sector and universities, he told an event in Switzerland. But Britain should also focus on leaving the EU, with MPs agreeing not to revoke Article 50, which began the exit process.
“The job of our next leader has to be getting the UK properly out of the EU, putting Brexit to be,” he said.
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