- British Prime Minister Thersa May has announced that she will be stepping down from her position on June 7, 2019
- This follows multiple defeats in parliament over Brexit
- A successor will be chosen in the next few weeks
The process of Brexit has been marked with a lot of tumultuous events, particularly for British Prime Minister Theresa May. Brexit proposals were repeatedly struck down in parliament and even as she tried to negotiate some compromise following the extension of the Brexit deadline, her position as prime minister had always been under fire. There were repeated calls for her resignation and several resignations of other ministers took place during her tenure
Now. on May 24, 2019, Theresa May has officially announced that she will be stepping down as the leader of the Conservative Party on June 7, 2019, effectively ending her tenure as prime minister.
Vacating Office
May gave a speech outside her official residence of 10, Downing Street, and as she did, expressed deep regret over Brexit. She did state that serving as prime minister was the honor of her life and that she did all that she could to get MPs to back the deals that she negotiated, which unfortunately did not come through.
While stepping down, a successor to her is to be chosen and she has stated that she has agreed with the party chairman and the chairman of the 1922 committee to begin the process of electing a new leader in the next week. Whoever inherits her position will be facing quite a challenge as she has stated that he or she will have to find a consensus in parliament even when she could not.
Since her speech, there have been a number of responses from various members of the British political system such as Boris Johnson who tweeted that the speech was a very dignified one and also thanked her for her service to her country. He went on to state that now was the time to follow through with her urging which was to come together and deliver the Brexit that was voted for by the British people.
Meanwhile, the European elections are currently holding and the Brexit process is far from finished even as the October 31 deadline is in view as both sides of the political divide must come together to agree on a concrete plan to which the UK can make an exit.
Theresa May’s resignation marks the second time a Prime Minister will be resigning as a result of Brexit as her predecessor, David Cameron, resigned after the Brexit results were announced.
