27 May 2019 - Theresa May to stand down as UK PM, what’s next?
Theresa May quits: UK set for new PM by end of July
(BBC News, 24/05/2019)
In an emotional statement, she said she had done her best to deliver Brexit and it was a matter of "deep regret" that she had been unable to do so.
Mrs May said she would continue to serve as PM while a Conservative leadership contest took place.
The party said it hoped a new leader could be in place by the end of July.
It means Mrs May will still be prime minister when US President Donald Trump makes his state visit to the UK at the start of June.
How Should We Feel About Theresa May?
Stephen Paduano (The New Republic, 27/05/2019)
On Friday, Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she will be resigning in two weeks. It came as little surprise. After nearly three years in office, the Brexit Prime Minister failed to deliver Brexit and now leaves her country with more division and less direction than when she started. History may not be kind, but hopefully it will be nuanced. While her errors were hers alone, her failures were not. In truth, the prime minister was put in an impossible position which neither she nor, likely, her successor could ever escape.
It’s not hard to come up with examples of where May went wrong. Upon becoming prime minister in 2016, she framed the Brexit debate in a way that ultimately spelled her ruin.
Very difficult for PM May's successor to pursue a no deal exit - Hammond
Reuters (Investing, 26/05/2019)
Chancellor Philip Hammond said on Sunday it would be very difficult for Prime Minister Theresa May's successor to bypass the will of parliament and seek to take Britain out of the European Union without a deal.
Several of the candidates vying to take over from May have said Britain must leave on Oct. 31, without or without a deal. Parliament has repeatedly voted against a no-deal Brexit and Hammond said he did not believe Britain was likely to be heading towards leaving without an agreement.
Hammond said parliament would be "vehemently opposed" to a strategy of leaving without a deal.
The Observer view on a post-May Brexit: Labour must show it can offer an alternative
(The Guardian, 27/05/2019)
Decent, moderate and patriotic” was how Theresa May chose to describe her premiership in her valedictory speech on Friday morning. Heartless, hardline and nationalistic is a more apt way to characterise her record in office. She may be leaving Downing Street emphasising her fight against the “burning injustices” she claimed she would tackle when she entered it. But her three-year premiership has left Britain an undoubtedly crueller and harsher place to live, trapped in the most serious political crisis that has engulfed the country in decades.
Brexit Party, LibDem and SNP wins reveal UK is more divided than ever
Tom Gordon, Scottish Political Editor (The Herald, 27/05/2019)
Early results indicated the Conservatives were headed for a historic defeat, losing most of their seats and sinking towards a single-figure vote share as they were deserted by supporters angry at Theresa May failing to deliver Brexit.
The results suggested the nation remains deeply divided over the decision to leave the EU.
The Prime Minister’s humiliation was only marginally worse than Jeremy Corbyn’s, as Labour was punished for its ambivalence on the biggest political issue of the day.