Theresa May formally steps down as Tory leader – without delivering Brexit and her party on the verge of extinction
THERESA May has formally stepped down as leader of the Tory party - without delivering Brexit and with her party on the verge of extinction.
The Prime Minister has exchanged letters with the backbench 1922 committee today, kickstarting the race for her successor.
The PM formally stepped down as Conservative Party leader in a letter to the 1922 backbench committee after 1,062 days.
She will stay on as PM – and acting leader – until a successor has been found.
Candidates who want to stand in the contest to replace her must apply before 5pm June 10th.
So far 11 candidates have declared their intention to run.
Boris Johnson is the current favourite to replace her, with Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt and Dominic Raab hot on his heels.
Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and powerful backbencher Sir Graham Brady are both understood to be considering their own bids.
Nominations are now officially open for her replacement, the committee confirmed this afternoon, which will close at 5pm on Monday.
"The Rt Hon Theresa May MP will remain as Acting Leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party until her successor has been announced," it said today.
LAST DAYS OF MAY
Theresa May is in her Maidenhead constituency working today and there are no planned statements or speeches.
Mrs May's last official engagements as leader of the Conservatives yesterday involved a moving speech paying tribute to the heroes of D-Day.
On May 24, Mrs May made a speech saying she was stepping down after losing the support of her MPs.
In a tearful speech outside Downing Street she said: "I have done my best.
"I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold – the second female Prime Minister but certainly not the last.
"I do so with no ill-will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love."
She leaves a difficult task for whoever takes over from her as she's been unable to deliver even the first stage of Brexit.
The PM failed three times to get her deal passed through Parliament as MPs rejected it again and again.
And she's hardly been able to achieve any of the domestic changes she wanted to as well as she's been so tied up with leaving the EU.
Even cross party talks with Jeremy Corbyn's Labour party failed to deliver anything of substance.
Meanwhile, Mr Farage's Brexit Party has opened up a six-point lead in a fresh poll today, which will serve as grim reading for Mrs May on her final day.
A YouGov survey revealed the party is on 26 per cent, with Labour in joint second with the Lib Dems on 20 per cent.
It's the second survey which has Mr Farage's party in the lead for a general election win, which could come in months.
The Brexit Party was only set up two months ago.
Meanwhile, Mrs May is today reported to be locked in a row with her Chancellor over her plans to leave office and try and salvage her legacy.
The PM wants to announce several spending commitments in her final weeks as PM, but the Treasury fears the cost will be too high.
Mrs May wants to plug more money into schools and colleges which could add up to billions.
One source said the money had to be saved in case Britain leaves the EU without a deal in October.
They told the Financial Times: "There have been several high level meetings on this.
"Philip has made it clear that the headroom is there as a cushion against a No-Deal exit."
The PM promised to tackle "burning injustices" when she came into No10 in 2016, but has failed to make an impact.
Philip Hammond was accused of throwing the PM’s hopes for a string of big spending announcements into jeopardy by refusing to sign off on a £10 billion programme.
An insider said: “They met earlier this week – and let’s just say there was no agreement.”
Separately, Home Secretary Sajid Javid marked her last day as leader by backing calls for hard-won immigration controls on students to be scrapped.
Tory backbencher Jo Johnson wants students to be taken out of the net migration target – and to be given an “automatic right” to stay on in Britain for two years after finishing their course.
Mrs May repeatedly demanded students count towards her net migration target of 100,000 a year during her time in office.
The Sun Says
WE hate to break it to the outgoing PM but there is no last-minute rescuing of her “legacy”.
It is outrageous to try to splurge £10billion on pet projects in her last days in office, hoping to be remembered for anything but failing on Brexit.
Chancellor Philip Hammond is furious. And for a record-breaking second time in two days he’s right. We’ll need that £10billion post-Brexit. Deciding how to spend it is for Mrs May’s successor.
For one last noble act, though, she should reinstate the £434million of funding cut from families with disabled kids, as The Sun has urged her.
It’s a long way short of £10billion . . . and no one could object.
Eleven candidates are currently in the running to replace Mrs May.
But the Tory party announced this week it had tightened the rules which makes it harder for them to stand without sufficient support.
MPs now need eight people to back them for the first round, and even more in the second, which will knock some of them out automatically.
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