Facing ire and fire from friends and foes alike for months over her approach to Brexit, an emotional Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced that she will resign on June 7 after the forthcoming visit of President Donald Trump.

Close to tears, May, the second woman prime minister in British history after Margaret Thatcher, stood outside 10, Downing Street, and said she had done everything to convice Mps to back her deal that has been voted down thrice, but “sadly I have not been able to do so”.

The immediate provocation for her announcement was her last week’s promise of a new ‘bold’ Brexit deal, which she intended to put before MPs in the week of June 3. However, the deal evoked more trenchant criticism from inside and outside her party.

May faced bruising headlines in the British media on Friday, such as ‘Time finally runs out for May’ (The Times), ‘Tory leadership race heats up as May prepares to name exit date’ (The Guardian), ‘Government in crisis: May to quit today’ (Daily Mirror).

Boris Johnson, former foreign secretary, is seen as the leading contender in the leadership contest that will follow when May resigns. There are several others in the race, including home secretary Sajid Javid and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt.

May took over as prime minister in July 2016 in the aftermath of the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, which resulted in a leave vote. The vote prompted David Cameron to resign as prime minister.

First Published: May 24, 2019 14:40 IST