British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on May 24 that she will step down as U.K. Conservative Party leader on June 7, sparking a contest to become the country’s next Prime Minister.
She will stay as caretaker Prime Minister until a new leader is chosen, a process likely to take several weeks. The new Conservative leader would then become Prime Minister without the need for a general election.
Ms. May has bowed to relentless pressure from her party to quit over her failure to take the U.K. out of the European Union on schedule. Britain is currently due to leave the EU on October 31, but Parliament has yet to approve terms.
Pressure on Ms. May to quit over her failure to get Parliament’s approval for a European Union divorce deal reached a critical point this week as House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom quit and several Cabinet colleagues expressed doubts about her Brexit Bill.
Ms. May on Thursday delayed plans to publish the EU Withdrawal Bill — her fourth attempt to secure Parliament’s backing for her Brexit blueprint.
Ms. May became Prime Minister in July 2016, and her premiership has been consumed by the so-far-unsuccessful attempt to leave the EU.
