Theresa May breaks cover for first time since quitting as Tory rivals battle to replace her as PM
The PM and her husband attended a church service near their Berkshire home
DUTIFUL Theresa May today broke cover for the first time since quitting - as the race to replace her in No10 started hotting up.
The PM was seen attending a Sunday service near her home in Sonning, Berkshire this morning.
Mrs May and her husband put on a brave face for their first public appearance since her emotional resignation speech on Friday.
Today another three new candidates - Michael Gove, Dominic Raab and Andrea Leadsom - confirmed they will throw their hats into the ring to replace her as Prime Minister.
That brings the total number of declared contenders to eight with up to a dozen more Tory MPs weighing up whether or not to join the race.
The candidates have been laying out their stall in a bid to win over enough of their colleagues to put them through to the final round of the leadership election in July.
Frontrunner Boris Johnson is set to pledge a huge cash boost for the NHS as he promotes himself as the best candidate to take on Nigel Farage and Jeremy Corbyn.
Michael Gove today claimed he's the pragmatic Brexiteer best placed to push through a deal taking us out of the EU.
Speaking this morning, Dominic Raab pushed his claim as a "details man" who shares Boris' Brexiteer credentials without the same weaknesses.
Jeremy Hunt says his business experience means he is good at cutting deals while Matt Hancock told The Sun it's time for a new generation to take over.
Esther McVey vowed to take Britain out of the EU with No Deal - but Rory Stewart has the opposite message, saying the new leader should rule out quitting the EU without a deal.
Andrea Leadsom insisted: "I am the decisive and compassionate leader who can reunite our great country."
Other ministers such as Sajid Javid and Penny Mordaunt have yet to declare whether or not they will run for the leadership.
Lower-profile figures including Priti Patel, Steve Baker, Graham Brady, James Cleverly and Mark Harper are also weighing up a long-shot tilt at the top job.
SUNDAY SERVICE
The Prime Minister, whose father was a vicar, is a devout Christian who rarely misses a weekly church service.
The Mays left London shortly after her resignation speech on Friday morning and headed to their home.
Speaking on the steps of No10, the PM declared she would formally step down as Tory leader on June 7.
What next after Theresa May quits?
THERESA May's resignation on Friday kickstarted the Tory leadership election.
The Prime Minister will formally stand down as party leader on June 7 - but will stay in place while the new PM is being chosen, rather than handing over to an interim chief such as David Lidington.
The leadership contest, overseen by party chairman Brandon Lewis, will take around six weeks.
Any Tory MP can enter the race, and the list of contenders is then whittled down by the parliamentary party.
MPs vote in multiple rounds, eliminating one candidate each time until just two are left.
The party's 160,000 activists then choose behind the final shortlist of two, with the winner declared leader and Prime Minister.
When Mrs May became leader, she didn't have to submit to a vote of members because Andrea Leadsom pulled out of the race.
So the last time activists have had a say on the leadership was 2005, when David Cameron defeated David Davis.
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She will continue as interim Prime Minister for another six weeks or so while her successor is elected by party activists.
Mrs May was forced to quit after her fourth attempt to push her Brexit deal through Parliament collapsed in flames.
The PM addressed the nation from the steps of 10 Downing Street on Friday morning, her voice breaking up as she admitted she had failed to deliver on the referendum result.
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