a tearful theresa may finally concedes her time is up. in two weeks the prime minister will resign as leader of the conservative party. mrs may said she would remain in downing street until a new leader is elected injuly. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. her voice cracking with emotion as she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude.

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. idoso 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 as a country i love. i think the prime minister deserves out i think the prime minister deserves our respect and gratitude. she has done everything throughout her career done everything throughout her career to put this country first and i want to thank her for her service and honour her for everything she has done for this country. the prime minster has returned to her berkshire constituency. she is a darn good constituency mp. i will be sad to see her go, very sad. she got lumbered with a job that no one wanted and i think it was a bit harsh on her really, but

what can you say? the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has announced he is a contender for new conservative leader and prime minister. we'll have the latest from westminster. welcome to downing street, where theresa may announced her resignation earlier, her voice cracking with emotion as she said she'd be leaving the job it had been the honour of her life to hold. in a statement delivered outside number ten, mrs may said it would always be a matter of deep regret that she'd been unable to deliver brexit. she'll resign as party leader formally on the 7th ofjune, then stay on as caretaker prime minister, while the party decides her successor.

theresa may has agreed with the chairman of tory backbenchers that the leadership contest should begin the following week, on the 10th ofjune. that contest is expected to take six weeks, which would mean we could have a new prime minister in place by the end ofjuly. our political correspondent nick eardley reports. after months of intense pressure, her husband and top aides watching, theresa may admitted for her, and her brexit plan, it's over. i have done everything i can to convince mps to back that deal. sadly, i have not been able to do so. i tried three times. i believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. so i am today announcing that

i will resign as leader of the conservative party and unionist party on friday the 7th ofjune so that a successor can be chosen. she hasn't been able to call the shots for some time, unable to persuade a bitterly divided parliament to back a brexit plan. and after a last throw of the dice this week, the pm concluded shejust could not go on. it is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. to succeed, he or she, will have to find consensus in parliament where i have not. such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. that will be easier said than done. mrs may leaves behind a party that split on what comes next. the latest in a long line of tory leaders brought down over europe.

our politics may be under strain, but there is so much that is good about this country. 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. an intensely human moment from the prime minister many have seen as robotic. politics can be a painful business. theresa may had insisted for months that her brexit plan was the only show in town, but today she has admitted defeat and handed the difficult task to her successor, trying to get something perhaps anything through parliament. the race to replace mrs may will officially begin in a fortnight, and the party wants someone new in here by mid—july.

this is not an episode of game of thrones. this is governing our country. the people of this country have voted to leave the european union and we have to deliver that. and honour a contract that parliament is made. but amid friendly tributes, theresa may's legacy will be complex, with considerable criticism over his strategy. she clearly cannot command a majority in parliament. she clearly has lost the confidence of her own mps. in all the discussions she's been having with her mps, they've all said one thing to her, that they don't support her strategy. you've got to recognise there is a need for a change of direction in this country. and she's not offered it, and i would be very surprised if any of her success offered it.

i wish theresa may well. she and i had profound disagreements, i disagreed with her handling of brexit and her disregard for scotland's interests in that. i don't think it was any secret that our relationship was not an easy one but also i know how tough leadership is. shortly after announcing her departure plans, theresa may left downing street for her constituency. time to reflect on what went wrong, perhaps what could have been done differently. soon mrs may will be departing number ten for good. our political correspondent chris mason is here. we were just hearing from liam fox, saying this is not the game of thrones, but it is a leadership contest which starts now. who are the latest contenders? jeremy hunt, the latest contenders? jeremy hunt, the foreign secretary, confirming in his constituency this morning that he will be a contender. not a

surprise. we were expecting that he would throw his hat in the ring but has done so formally within hours of the prime minister's announcement. he has been projecting himself as a remain supporter who understands that brexit has to happen. a born again brexiteer. the challenge for him with grassroots membership is whether or not they can look beyond the fact he backed the remain because. two candidates go through having been backed by mps. is it likely to be a brexiteer and then a remain? what is the answer? they will definitely be a brexiteer, the question is whether it will be two brexiteers or a brexiteer and a remain supporter. plenty say they are former remain supporters but they back the result of the referendum so they will be a lot of

contest around the labels that get thrown around these prospective leaders. what is going to be fascinating is the scale of this contest. it looks like they could be into the teens candidates in that first round. the conservative mps at westminster have a hugely significant role in whittling that down to just two and potentially trying to exclude anyone who they don't want to see get to the final two. they will be sent, for instance, pretty desperate to stop borisjohnson. instance, pretty desperate to stop boris johnson. whether instance, pretty desperate to stop borisjohnson. whether they instance, pretty desperate to stop boris johnson. whether they will have the numbers to do that, i doubt. boris johnson certainly appears to be the candidate to beat but you will recall that a couple of yea rs but you will recall that a couple of years ago he was the candidate to beat and didn't even make it down to the last two. so these have a capacity to throw up surprises. what did you make of her resignation statement? it was extraordinary, because for someone who has been so

often caricatured as somebody who does not show emotion in public, she could not hold it back towards the tail end of that address, with her voice cracking while talking about the prospect of a future female prime minister and then breaking down entirely in those final few sentences. i think some within the party almost wish that she had been more like that in the time that she had governed. i think the other big question that is being asked, and there is no answer to this because it isa there is no answer to this because it is a hypothetical alternative, she talked a lot about the need for compromise. i think a good number in her party and beyond are making the argument that had she been willing to do that much earlier in the process , to do that much earlier in the process, just maybe she might have been able to come together a parliamentary majority but i think the political calculation that stood against that at the time is they would have been demands within her party to get rid of her much, much sooner, and as a prime minister you wa nt to sooner, and as a prime minister you want to carry on as long as possible to try and pursue what you are

setting out to do. but ultimately, for all the words and emotion, they stood a few hours ago a prime minister who had failed in her central mission of government. for all the spin she in attempted to put on her other achievements and trying her best to do it, the bottom line is that she failed. the brexit prime minister that failed to deliver brexit. thank you very much indeed. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament. absolutely, and i don't know if you can hear them but they are certainly making their presence felt. the protesters on climate change, the is that we have read about, so please forgive the background noise. i am joined at a very busy by two commentators. first of all, your reaction to that statement from theresa may. any sympathy for her or has she really failed in this key

challenge? there is no way you can resist any kind of sympathy at all because she basically breaks down in the end and one has the capacity for empathy. in terms of an assessment of where she has gone, she got given a very bad hand, but she has played it spectacularly badly. her speech today was about moderation, compromise, bringing people together, but there was none of that during hertime. she ignored the pragmatic options available to her. apart from human empathy, you do feel this was of her own making. the conservatives set up a party within a party, as john conservatives set up a party within a party, asjohn major said. conservatives set up a party within a party, asjohn majorsaid. no prime minister ultimately can survive that little division. you might argue that one of the tasks she would have had notjust as prime minister but the leader of her party was to bring the party together and it was interesting to hear ian say that she completely isolated herself. brexiteers will tell you she isolated herself from brexiteers

as well as the remain voters. i think that is the problem with theresa may's approach, she tried to get both sides together but neither of the site think she was on their side. that is key in terms of who can move this forward. can anyone bring the different sides together? jeremy hunt has declared that he is going to stand. is he the man that could do that? he is a weird one. he voted remain, he has since then made some very tough brexit statements. you get the feeling he doesn't really care about brexit one way or the other, like many people in parliament. that might not be such a bad thing. it might not mean that he will be sent when's first choice but he could be a sufficient number of people's second choice. but my hunch is right now they are going to want a brexiteer, someone who voted brexit at the referendum, and that reduces the options to people like michael gove, dominic rob and boris

johnson. can boris johnson be stopped? i think some of his parliamentary colleagues are going to try and stop him. they are going to try and stop him. they are going to be some stop boris candidates. i thinkjeremy to be some stop boris candidates. i think jeremy hunt would to be some stop boris candidates. i thinkjeremy hunt would be one but i thinkjeremy hunt would be one but i think he has his own interests. other candidates like sajid javid, penny mordaunt if she decided to run. all of these people would be stop boris candidates. the only thing we can be sure about is that if somehow boris reached the top two, because you have the top two candidates chosen by mps and you present them to the party, it is certain that he would win because he has massive support within the grassroots but are his parliamentary colleagues going to a row —— allow him to reach the top two places? so when you look at candidates like jeremy hunt, who have inevitably to

a pro—brexit tory membership in recent months, would someone like that in a moderate part of the party cut it with tory members? it depends oi'i cut it with tory members? it depends on how good tory members' memories are because they are not going to be looking at the last couple of weeks or the last couple of months, they will look at his whole record and wonder whether he can do enough to convince them that he can do enough for them, but that is something the remain voters turned brexiteers are hoping to do. get a solid brexiteers oi'i hoping to do. get a solid brexiteers on site to stand on their brexiteer credentials. is it clear how much support boris johnson does credentials. is it clear how much support borisjohnson does have because he has been politically hugely criticised while in office as foreign secretary. is he seen as the right calibre for the job? calibre isa weird right calibre for the job? calibre is a weird word to use because it suggests there is some seriousness or substance to him and none of those things are there. i would say almost anyone i speak to, whether

they are remain or leave, tory or labour, they don't think he has any interest but self interest in anything he does. so a longer campaign mitigate against the brexiteers but that is not likely. not really. it is going to be a brexiteer, and they are going to have to say for that party, i am going to deliver on brexit. brexit itself is the problem. theresa may wants to sit there with a deal, the only deal that the european union will accept, and as soon as the reality of brexit is written down, your own reality of brexit is written down, your own site., and they will face exactly the same problem and we will be back you are probably in a few short months dealing with exactly the same situation. thank you very much indeed. slightly blustery, pretty noisy, but at least the sun is shining. ben.

you are watching bbc news special coverage from downing street after the prime minister's resignation statement. i'm joined now by charles walker, a vice chair of the 1922 committee, which represents conservative backbenchers. he'll be organising the parliamentary stages of the leadership contest and has just been in a meeting about exactly that. just talk us through what happens next. myself and my co-chair will oversee the parliamentary stages of the ballot. i imagine they will be a number of candidates. we will whittle that down to two candidates and they will go forward to the membership for the final decision. so graham brady is the chair of the 1922 committee. we are just hearing from my colleague, saying he has confirmed that he is considering standing to be leader and so has stood down as chair of the 1922 committee. that means he is

effectively not running things, you are. yes, he has been approached by are. yes, he has been approached by a number of colleagues asking him if he would run for leadership. i know he would run for leadership. i know he is considering that at the moment. i am sure he will make a decision in the next few hours as to what he wants to do. how long will the whole process take? when will we have a new party leader and therefore a new leader in number ten downing st? the ambition is to have it done by the time of the summer recess, the end ofjuly. and for those who don't know how it works, the mps come up with two contenders and then that is put to the party around the country? yes, the party membership, and i suspect they will be hustings around the country, possibly even tv interviews or things like that for the wider audience, and then they will be a vote at the end of that process, paper ballot, and a new leader will be elected and a new prime minister

will follow. and lots of people already putting their hats in the ring. we heard from borisjohnson the other day, jeremy hunt in the last few minutes. we could have maybe a couple of dozen, may be more, three dozen contenders. maybe a couple of dozen, may be more, three dozen contenderslj would more, three dozen contenders.” would be surprised if we got to 36 contenders but between ten and 20 might be reasonable and then some will fall away as the numbers become clearer to them and others. does it have to be a brexiteer? theresa may was a remain voters who try to get a brexit deal but does it now have to be someone who was originally campaigning for leave? ourjob is to come up with the two best candidates we can find in the field and then put those to the membership and their membership will decide who they want to be the next leader of they want to be the next leader of the party and then obviously a prime minister. can you say who you would support or is that not allowed? that is not allowed. i am at the returning officer so my lips are sealed. just talk to us about the

prime minister's statement, she stood just a couple of yards from here, very dignified, and then at the very end, her voice cracked with emotion and i think a lot of people felt a lot of sympathy for her as she said she had done her best and she said she had done her best and she said she had done her best and she said it had been a great honour to serve the country that she loves. she is a fantastic woman. i have supported the prime minister from the very start of her premiership andi the very start of her premiership and i have never stopped supporting her. i think she is noble and dignified and she is very upset at what happened. she has tried so hard to deliver brexit, she has almost broke herself to do it, and naturally she is very upset for the country that she has not been able to do it. and she has not been able to do it. and she has not been able to do it. and she has not been able to do that because at times of the party has not supported her. has she been badly treated by her own party? she could have been treated a lot better. going forward, we need to be

a lot kinder to each other. things have been said that can't be unsaid but going forward, if we don't stand united, if we continue to fall out with each other, the conservative party is going to be in even deeper trouble than it is now. the public do not like what they are seeing. and she talked about the need for compromise and consensus but we are about to have weeks and weeks of leadership hustings so we are not going to get that. i think it depends around the tone of voice that those hustings are conducted. people want the best for their country, the people they represent and the party, and so the hustings could be a success and will reinvigorate the conservative movement. thank you very much for your time. thanks for coming here today to talk to us. and we have just been hearing from a former conservative leader and prime minster david cameron. i feel desperately sorry for theresa may. she worked incredibly hard, she isa may. she worked incredibly hard, she is a dedicated public servant and i

know what it feels like when you come to realise that your leadership time has finished, that the country needs a new leader, and it is extremely difficult and painful to step outside downing street and to say those things, but i think she is and she was a dedicated public servant, she worked incredibly hard oi'i servant, she worked incredibly hard on our servant, she worked incredibly hard on our behalf. i think she deserves our gratitude for that and this will bea our gratitude for that and this will be a very difficult day. how will theresa may's leadership be remembered? i think she will be remembered? i think she will be remembered as someone who worked very ha rd remembered as someone who worked very hard on our behalf, who was passionate about the future of this country. the government continued a very strong economic record with re cord very strong economic record with record numbers of people in work, unemployment falling and the economy growing, and she worked incredibly ha rd growing, and she worked incredibly hard to overcome any difficulties. you said last time we spoke that the problem for the prime minister was that people who wanted brexit in the conservative party just weren't voting for it. i know that she will feel extremely frustrated, as i

think many of us feel frustrated, that ultimately the people who most wanted brexit in the end would not vote for it. as she said today, in the end you have to compromise in politics. compromise is not a dirty word. you can't always get exactly what you want and it is a shame that people couldn't see that. you have been there, you have given that speech, how will theresa may be feeling now that the dust has started to settle, she has gone home and she is reflecting on what happened today? it is a very painful moment, a very difficult moment when you come to realise, as i did, that my leadership was at an end, that my time was at an end, that the country needed a new prime minister, and thatis needed a new prime minister, and that is what she said today, that is what she will be feeling today, but obviously it is a very big moment, a very sad moment, because she cares passionately about the job, about the country, and she wanted to serve asa the country, and she wanted to serve as a public, as i did, and when you come to that moment it is extremely

ha rd come to that moment it is extremely hard to take. looking to the future, they will be a new prime minister and many people are speculating that person will be borisjohnson. and many people are speculating that person will be boris johnson.” and many people are speculating that person will be boris johnson. i am not going to get involved at all in the conservative leadership race. i think previous prime ministers, it is best if they give advice in private and help in private and that is always what i try to do for theresa may and her team, sol is always what i try to do for theresa may and her team, so i will not give a running commentary on the future, but i wish whoever it is well, they have got a huge job ahead of them and i will do anything i can to help and give advice behind—the—scenes if that is sought. their next prime minister, the brexit conundrum hasn't gone away. there is still a crisis to be solved. there is still a very difficult situation. as theresa may said, rightly, compromise is required. not everyone can get what they want. but we are going to have a new leader and a new prime ministerandl a new leader and a new prime minister and i will do what i can to help support them deliver a good outcome. do you think the next prime list they should come in and say

they should be a next referendum —— a second referendum as a way to break the deadlock?” a second referendum as a way to break the deadlock? i think today is the day to say thank you to theresa may after her hard work and dedicated public service. as a former conservative prime minister, i will want to do anything i can to help the next prime minister, whoever he or she may be, but i'm not going to get involved in the contest or telling you what i think they ought to do, least of all publicly, but privately i am always available to help and advice in any way i can. let's speak now to conservative mp andrew mitchell. he canjoin us live as he can join us live as well. thank you for being with us. what was your reaction when you saw the prime minister's statement this morning?” was obviously very sad indeed. i was struck by the personal cost to her. i work with her very happily for seven and a half years in cabinet

and in the shadow cabinet. she is someone and in the shadow cabinet. she is someone of and in the shadow cabinet. she is someone of enormous and in the shadow cabinet. she is someone of enormous qualities and virtue. but i think she was right to go. a very dignified statement. it is the right answer and we need now to draw a line and have a fresh start. and how do you see that fresh start. and how do you see that fresh start going? what sort of direction desert the party need to go in? who would you like to see take over as party leader and prime minister?” wrote an article for the daily telegraph last week in which i suggested they are at least 18 runners and riders, all of whom in their different ways would be very goodindeed their different ways would be very good indeed at the job. their different ways would be very good indeed at thejob. so i think there is an enormous talent pool of at least 18 people and i probably missed out some very good ones too, and it is now for the parliamentary party to try and work out which of them, in these circumstances, would do thejob best. i didn't take them, in these circumstances, would do the job best. i didn't take any pa rt do the job best. i didn't take any part in the last leadership campaign and didn't really support anyone in

particular, but the one thing i did think last time was that the party needed to be led by someone who had voted to leave. while it's not impossible for someone who voted remain in the referendum in 2016, i think it is quite difficult, and i think it is quite difficult, and i think that played a part in the very severe problems that mrs may face. after all, she made two catastrophic errors ofjudgment. after all, she made two catastrophic errors of judgment. the after all, she made two catastrophic errors ofjudgment. the first was, after she lost the conservative party majority in the 2017 election, she really needed to level with everybody that it was parliament that was in control. the government had lost control of the house of commons and therefore it would be parliament that would decide. she didn't say that and i think that was partly because she was worried about what the drg and my very good friend jacob rees—mogg would do with her if she spelt out that reality. the second thing she did, which i always found completely income principal, was that she brought back to the

house of commons from europe a deal that she knew would never get through. if you look at prime ministers like david cameron, who has just been ministers like david cameron, who hasjust been on, and ministers like david cameron, who has just been on, and tony ministers like david cameron, who hasjust been on, and tony blair, they always show the greatest possible respect and understanding of the house of commons, treated the house of commons in a rather feline way, and yet theresa may felt it was right to bring back a deal which she knew had no chance of getting through. i know she tried very, very ha rd through. i know she tried very, very hard and with great skill and effort to try and overcome that by the fact is that the deal was always stillborn, it was never going to go through the house of commons. just back to the leadership contest, you say there are 18 good contenders at least that you could say good things about, at least, but nail your colours to the mast, who are you going to vote for? i have not yet decided. i think there are three or four that are absolutely outstanding. i want to hear what they have to say. one thing i want

to be absolutely certain about is whoever the new leader is, they will stand by what britain is doing internationally on development. there is a consensus in britain, it was locked down by david cameron and george osborne in 2010, that britain's offered to the poorest people in the world is a british offer, not a labour or people in the world is a british offer, nota labour ora people in the world is a british offer, not a labour or a tory offer, andi offer, not a labour or a tory offer, and i want to see that consensus, britain was my contribution overseas, maintained. it is the only example of global britain today. britain makes an enormous impact on the lives of some of the poorest people in the world and i want to see that consensus maintained, so one of the questions i will be asking of my friends who are standing for the leadership is, where do they stand on that? andrew mitchell, thank you very much for being with us live from birmingham. while we were talking to andrew mitchell, we have been hearing from borisjohnson. he mitchell, we have been hearing from boris johnson. he has mitchell, we have been hearing from borisjohnson. he has already declared that he will run. he has been speaking at a conference in switzerland and he said that he paid

tribute to theresa may. he said that she was a patient and stoical, facing all the difficulties around the country's departure from the eu, and he said a new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration. that is boris johnson, one of the contenders, the former foreign secretary, who has already said he is definitely running, saying a new leader will have the opportunity to do things differently and have the momentum of a new administration. much more on what happens now to the conservative party and the country, but first a look at the latest weather forecast. still some warm sunshine at the moment. although cloud is developing in southern england. further north—west we have cloudy weather for scotland with some rain. that is

where the coolest air is. to the south—east, still some sunshine. tonight the rain will clear and we will have clear skies for a time. not a cold night. temperatures between six and 12 degrees. but we will see the cloud thicken to bring the rain into northern ireland early on saturday morning. that rain will spread westwards, reaching western scotla nd spread westwards, reaching western scotland and turning heavier. a lot of dry weather elsewhere. the temperatures not doing badly. high teens to low 20s for most. but in scotla nd teens to low 20s for most. but in scotland where we have the cloud and the rain, it won't be so warm — around ten to 12 degrees. for the weekend, still some spells of sunshine, but in the north—west it is cloudy with rain. generally the temperatures will be falling over the next couple of days. temperatures by bank holiday monday reaching a high of 18 degrees in the

south—east of england. that is the latest weather.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. a tearful theresa may finally concedes her time is up. in two weeks the prime minister will resign as leader of the conservative party. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i've not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of referendum. her voice cracking with emotion as she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude. i will 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. the prime minister deserves our respect and gratitude. i want to thank her for her service and honour for everything that she has done for our country. the prime minster has returned to her berkshire constituency. she is a darn good mp. she was lumbered with a job that nobody wanted and it is a bit harsh. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has announced he is a contender for new conservative leader

and prime minister. sir graham brady stands down as chair of the backbenchers1922 committee, and says he is considering running for conservative party leadership. welcome back to downing street, where this morning theresa may stood outside number ten and announced she's stepping down as conservative leader on june seventh. in a statement mrs may said it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver brexit. she was close to tears as she said it had been "the honour of her life" to serve the country she loved. backin back in 2016, we gave the british people a choice. against all predictions, the british people voted to leave the european union. i feel as certain today as i did three yea rs feel as certain today as i did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice, you have a duty to implement what they decide.

i've done my best to do that. i negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbours that protects jobs, our security and our union. i've done everything i can to convince mps to back that deal. sadly, i've not been able to do so. i tried three times. i believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. so i am today announcing that i will resign as leader of the conservative party on friday seventh june resign as leader of the conservative party on friday seventhjune so, that a successor can be chosen. i've agreed with the party chairman and the chairman of the 1922 committee that the process for electing a new leader should begin in the following week. i've kept her majesty the keep

fully informed of my intentions and i will continue to serve as her prime minister until the process has concluded. it is and will always remaina concluded. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i've not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of referendum, to succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in parliament where i have not. such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. that was the prime minister this morning. the environment secretary, michael gove, has given his reaction to mrs may's announcement. i think the prime minister deserves our respect and gratitude. she's a dedicated public servant and she's done everything throughout her career to put this country first, and i want to thank her for her service and honour her

for everything she's done for this country. will you be running to replace her? today is a day for all of us to reflect on the prime minister's achievements and to thank her for everything she's done for this country and to show her the respect and gratitude she deserves for always putting this country first. do you want the top job? i think it's important that all of us recognise that the prime minister has done a greatjob for this country and it's always difficult — and it was moving to see the prime minister speaking she did — always difficult, i think, for any prime minister to acknowledge that the time to move on has come. but now she has made that decision, i think we all need to thank her for her service and underline our appreciation for everything she's done for our country. how did you feel watching her comments today? ifound it moving, actually. i think the prime minister has put her heart and soul into trying to do the best she can for this country, facing a challenging climate in parliament. i know the prime minister has always done what she thinks is best for this country, it's for that reason i want to thank her for that service and i think all of us should spend today reflecting

on everything that she's done and giving her, i think, the gratitude she deserves for her services. will you be putting your name forward? i think today's ultimately about making sure we acknowledge that this is the prime minister's day. she spoke movingly about what she wants to achieve and everything she wanted to achieve in office and we should thank her service. after the divisions over europe were laid bare by the referendum three years ago, theresa may came to office with the task of bringing together both the conservative party and the country. but she leaves with those divisions unresolved. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young reflects now on her premiership.

theresa may rose to the top job at one of the most turbulent periods in british political history. after the vote to leave the european union, david cameron resigned and extraordinary in—fighting among leadership contenders left the path clear for theresa may to become the second female prime minister. as we leave the eu, we will forge a bold, new, positive role for ourselves in the world and we will make britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for everyone of us. during her first months as prime minister, she was under pressure to lay out her approach to brexit negotiations, but refused to give much away. brexit means brexit. and we we're going to make a success of it. become bg prime minister had a long held ambition. the daughter of a vicar, she was mainly state—educated before studying at

0xford state—educated before studying at oxford university. there she met her future husband, philip. she went to work in the city, but saw her future in politics and became a councillor in london and was elected the mp for maiden head in 1997. the conservative party at westminster was dominated by men, but she showed her feminine was dominated by men, but she showed herfeminine side. as party chairman, she made the case for conservative modernisation, telling her party some hard truths during their years in opposition. our base is too narrow and so occasionally are our sympathies, you know what some people call us? the nasty party. when david cameron became prime minister he promoted theresa may to home secretary, in a coalition government with the liberal democrats. despite failing to bring net migration down to the target, she was the longest serving

home secretary of modern time. as prime minister, she faced a tougher challenge, steering the uk and her party through brexit and triggered article 50, telling brussels that britain would be leaving the eu. and then this most cautious of politicians became one of westminster‘s biggest risk—ta kers. since i became prime minister i have said there should be no election until 20/20. but now i have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions i must take. mrs may said she had called the general election to strengthen her hand in the brexit negotiations, but her huge gamble backfired and she lost the conservative majority, only hanging on to power through a deal with the dup. her political misjudgment left her weakened. her

attem pts misjudgment left her weakened. her attempts s to reassert her authority didn't always go to plan. this speak was stopped by interruptions and a consistent cough. after months of negotiations with brussels, mrs may agreed a deal, but the compromise to avoid border checks in ireland wasn't one many could accept. the ayes to the right, 202. the noes to the left, 432. that was an historic defeat in the house of commons and mps defeat in the house of commons and m ps voted defeat in the house of commons and mps voted against it twice more. mrs may was forced to ask for a delay to brexit. her last throw of the dice was to appeal to labour and week of talks go nowhere, but she went ahead with a promise to mps that they could decide whether to hold a

second referendum. it was too much for many conservatives and they watched as nigel farage's brexit party surged in popularity. theresa may never wanted brexit to define her time may never wanted brexit to define hertime in may never wanted brexit to define her time in office, but the decision to leave the eu was the backdrop to everything her government did. she was praised for her tenacity and sense of duty, but critics said she lacked vision and regarded brexit as a damage—limitation exercise. 0nce more the issue of europe has ended the career of a conservative leader. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament we have some young schools climate change protesters behind us. but with me is fraser nelson of the

spectator and a boris supporter. your reaction, do you feel sympathy for theresa may? yes it is difficult not to. she has had the toughestjob of any recent prime minister i can rememberand she had of any recent prime minister i can remember and she had shown an incredible reserve of stamina and her sense of public duty is visible. it was difficult not to feel sorry for her, no matter if you think she has made a bad job as prime minister, which i do, on a personal level she has given everything she has got. people may say that is a duplicitous angle given the trouble people like boris have given her. you can feel sorry for somebody personally, while thinking they have done a bad job politically. she has left her party in a terrible mess. she was never going to get that deal

passed and her failure to realise that has wasted a year perhaps of time and left the country in an embarrassing position and left the party thinking it is on the brink of extinction, because they're waiting for the extinction, because they're waiting forthe mep extinction, because they're waiting for the mep votes and some people think there won't be a single tory in the european parliament. now, thatis in the european parliament. now, that is a calamitous legacy for any leader and theresa may i'm afraid knows that will be hers. how much support does boris johnson knows that will be hers. how much support does borisjohnson have? among the party membership a huge amount. among mps. a very little. most don't like him. but they are not thinking if they like him. they are thinking about their survival. they think, what if the nigel farage juggernaut keeps rolling to westminster, my seat i may not get. i'm going to need somebody who can get rid of nigel farage. who is the

best person to prick the farage bubble? it is difficult to see past borisjohnson. bubble? it is difficult to see past boris johnson. his record in office as foreign secretary and things he said on some things was seen as shambolic. is he the right calibre of person to lead the country. he didn't excel as foreign secretary, but he had eight years as mayor of london. he didn't do anything. he was elected twice in a labour city. the major is a very different level ofjob to prime minister in a stuck parliament. yes, but it is on a par with cabinet level. boris's style is to appoint great people who he devolves power. that worked in london. didn't work so well in the foreign office. what does he want now, if he becomes leader, what would his plan be, does he want a

deal, the eu said they're not negotiating. that is the problem. if the eu isn't willing to compromise, there will be no deal. it is not just boris who will say that, michael gove and others. the rix is if you're —— risk is if you vote boris, you getjeremy corbyn. if you're —— risk is if you vote boris, you get jeremy corbyn. that is the risk. but the eu election yesterday meant a new european commission in november. perhaps they might have learned, the commission from, the thrashing they're about to get from the annoyed voters of europe and we may get a new commission that is more prepared to negotiate. october 31st is the deadline. not november. that's right. but a couple of weeks extension and you can't see in his la st extension and you can't see in his last fortnight this commission will allow the eu, britain to leave the eu without a deal. it is not that much of a push to think if they want

a big decision, they will wait for the new guys to actually make that decision. what you're saying is there is a chance borisjohnson will ta ke there is a chance borisjohnson will take the uk out on a no deal by a is? -- bea sis. ithink who take the uk out on a no deal by a is? -- bea sis. i think who succeeds theresa may will do that. anybody who wants to succeed her will have to not repeat her mistake, that was to not repeat her mistake, that was to take no deal off the table. as soon as you to take no deal off the table. as soon as you doo that, the eu has no reason to negotiate. there is actually, it is easy to bridge that gap, all you need is more good will, but you need to break the deadlock. theresa may wasn't able to, that is why she quit. there is a good reason to believe that any number of successors would do a betterjob. borisjohnson

successors would do a betterjob. boris johnson known f charisma, successors would do a betterjob. borisjohnson known f charisma, but not for honesty. how much does character matter. well, boris is a winner, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have voted for leave. it is vote rs wouldn't have voted for leave. it is voters who decide character and they tend to be less critical of boris's behaviour than mps. boris gets away with murder as far as most other politicians are concerned. they hate him for it, but the voters are open to argument and he has good arguments. thank you. would you work for no ten if he wins? not a snow ball's chance in hell! sorry about the language. i think that was a no! theresa may has been the mp for the berkshire market town

of maidenhead for more than two decades — our correspondent duncan kennedy has been hearing what her constituents thought of her resignation announcement — and their views on the extraordinary difficulties she faced in office. from brexit to berkshire, the prime minister headed from downing street to home to contemplate her career. in maiden head we broke the news to her constituents. traichl theresa may has announced she is resigning. i'm gutted actually. lovely lady. i think it was harsh for her. she was never going to do it. they were all against her. i thought it was very hard. she is a darn good constituency mp. be sad to see her go. with a majority of more than

26,000, theresa may's supporters couldn't get enough of their mp. but the one goal of brexit eluded her. should have been decided, the brexit business, putting people under pressure, not just the business, putting people under pressure, notjust the people, everyone. all over the world she has put under pressure. she should have resigned ages ago. her vision of leaving the eu was blurred by party and opposition resistance. but those who know her well here say she had been given an impossible task. who know her well here say she had been given an impossible taskm was a huge change, we had been in europe for 40 year, labour didn't wa nt europe for 40 year, labour didn't want to go in, now they don't want to come out. i don't know where anybody is. theresa may will stay on as mp, but she said she failed to deliver what she most wanted and knows the job of achieving that will bea knows the job of achieving that will be a legacy left to someone else.

let's find out now how theresa may's announcement is being viewed across the uk. in a moment we'll hear from our correspondents emma vardy in londonderry and felicity evans in cardiff, but first sarah smith in glasgow. politicians here are of course trying to work out what theresa may's departure means for them and means for scotland. already, nicola sturgeon has said that the prospect of what she calls an even more hardline brexiteer coming in as prime minister and threatening a no deal exit makes the case for scotla nd deal exit makes the case for scotland being allowed to choose an independent future, even more strongly. she has been arguing for another referendum on scottish independence. that is what is in the mind of scottish tories, who have been praising theresa may have praised her commitment to keeping scotla nd

praised her commitment to keeping scotland in the uk and ruth davidson said she will be looking for a successor that believes scotland's place is in the uk. here is felicity evans in cardiff. the first minister of wales said he has never doubted theresa may's commitment, but he blames her inability to compromise for leaving us in a mess of her making. he said that a conservative leadership contest is the last thing the country needs, as we negotiate one of biggest challenges and uncertainties we have faced in decades. but paul davies, the leader of conservative members here paid tribute to theresa may's dedication and urged his party to unite now to deliver the brexit that people voted for. interestingly, there was a welsh opinion poll commissioned a few days ago, asking voters who they liked best for theresa may's successor. at the moment, boris johnson is out in front. now

reaction in northern ireland with emma vardy in londonderry. well, some of theresa may's most difficult daysin some of theresa may's most difficult days in office were focussed on trying to resolve the issues of northern ireland and the irish border. some of those problems posed by this place was a hurdle she never managed to overcome. theresa may never got the dup to,on board with her deal and the dup's confidence and supply arrangement with the conservatives is due to expire shortly after her successor takes over. it is likely that will have to be renegotiated. the dup today have been gracious about theresa may, but make no mistake, whoever steps into her shoes will face exactly the same set of set tricky circumstances with the dup, sinn fein have been critical of the conservatives' relationship with the dup and all

those tensions still have to be resolved. more reaction coming up. now some other news. two boys — aged 13 and 14 — have died after what police have described as a "serious incident" in sheffield. six children were taken to hospital early this morning after officers were called to a property in the shiregreen area. four of them, aged seven months, 3,10 and 11 are still receiving treatment. a man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder, but police say they're still trying to work out how the boys died south yorkshire police gave an update at the site of the incident, a short while ago. good afternoon, we are here on greg house road, a tragic scene of events. this morning the emergency services responded to a property on this street. as a result of that,

yorkshire air ambulance service attended here and a number of children were taken to hospital. sadly, two children have since died and four children remain in hospital. as you can appreciate, this is a very early stages of our investigation, our detectives are supporting the family, the family are aware of the circumstances and our inquiry will continue to develop during the day. i think it is important that i reassure the wider community that there is no wider risk. two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody. that is south yorkshire police. more on that this afternoon and more on political developments too. but nor the weather. still some warmth left in

the day. temperatures in the low 20s in the south—east. the high teens elsewhere. tonight rain will clear from scotland and we will be left with dry weather for a time. a from scotland and we will be left with dry weatherfor a time. a mild night. temperatures between six and 12 celsius. by the end of the night, cloud will thicken in northern ireland. rain here to start the day on saturday. that damp weather will spread to western scotland and the isle of man and cumbria. east wards a dry and bright start. across the south we will see the highest temperatures at around 22 in london. but things turning cooler in scotla nd but things turning cooler in scotland and the far north—west of england. through the rest of the holiday weekend, it will be cloudy with rain at times int holiday weekend, it will be cloudy with rain at times in t north and west and turning cooler as well.

you're watching a bbc news special with me, ben brown, in downing street, where a tearful theresa may has announced she will quit as conservative leader on the 7th ofjune. 0ur headlines: mrs may said she would remain in downing street until a new leader is elected injuly. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. her voice cracking with emotion as she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude. 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. i think the prime minister deserves our respect and gratitude. she has done everything throughout her career to put this country first and i want to thank her for her service and honour her for everything she has done for this country. after delivering her emotional statement, the prime minister returned to her berkshire constituency. she is a darn good constituency mp. i will be sad to see hergo, very sad. she got lumbered with a job that no one wanted and i think it was a bit harsh on her really, but what can you say? the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has announced he is a contender for new conservative leader

and prime minister. we'll have the latest from westminster. welcome to downing street, where theresa may announced her resignation earlier, her voice cracking with emotion as she said she'd be leaving the job it had been the honour of her life to hold. in a statement delivered outside number ten, mrs may said it would always be a matter of deep regret that she'd been unable to deliver brexit. she'll resign as party leader formally on the 7th ofjune, then stay on as caretaker prime minister, while the party decides her successor. theresa may has agreed with the chairman of tory

backbenchers that the leadership contest should begin the following week, on the 10th ofjune. that contest is expected to take six weeks, which would mean we could have a new prime minister in place by the end ofjuly. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. after months of intense pressure, her husband and top aides watching, theresa may admitted for her, and her brexit plan, it's over. i have done everything i can to convince mps to back that deal. sadly, i have not been able to do so. i tried three times. i believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. so i am today announcing that i will resign as leader of the conservative party

and unionist party on friday the 7th ofjune so that a successor can be chosen. she hasn't been able to call the shots for some time, unable to persuade a bitterly divided parliament to back a brexit plan. and after a last throw of the dice this week, the pm concluded shejust could not go on. it is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. to succeed, he or she, will have to find consensus in parliament where i have not. such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. that will be easier said than done. mrs may leaves behind a party that split on what comes next. the latest in a long line of tory leaders brought down over europe. 0ur politics may be under strain,

but there is so much that is good about this country. 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. an intensely human moment from the prime minister many have seen as robotic. politics can be a painful business. theresa may had insisted for months that her brexit plan was the only show in town, but today she has admitted defeat and handed the difficult task to her successor, trying to get something perhaps anything through parliament. the race to replace mrs may will officially begin in a fortnight, and the party wants someone new in here by mid—july. this is not an episode of game of thrones. this is governing our country. the people of this country have voted to leave the european union

and we have to deliver that. and honour a contract that parliament is made. todayis today is a day for all of us to reflect on the prime minister's achievements, to thank her for everything she has done for this country, and to show her the respect and gratitude that she deserves for always putting this country first. but amid friendly tributes, theresa may's legacy will be complex, with considerable criticism over her strategy. she clearly cannot command a majority in parliament. she clearly has lost the confidence of her own mps. in all the discussions she's been having with her mps, they've all said one thing to her, that they don't support her strategy. you've got to recognise there is a need for a change of direction in this country. and she's not offered it, and i would be very surprised if any of her success offered it. i wish theresa may well. she and i had profound disagreements, i disagreed with her handling of brexit and her disregard for

scotland's interests in that. i don't think it was any secret that our relationship was not an easy one but also i know how tough leadership is. shortly after announcing her departure plans, theresa may left downing street for her constituency. time to reflect on what went wrong, perhaps what could have been done differently. soon mrs may will be departing number ten for good. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is here. a lot of people have been paying tribute to the prime minister and her premiership but this always happens, when a party leader or a prime minister goes, immediately the focus is on who is going to take over. and often the same answers to the same questions. we have seen several conservative members are paying tribute in their first sentence of this morning and then articulating their view for the

future and setting out their stall for thejob. boris future and setting out their stall forthejob. borisjohnson, future and setting out their stall for the job. boris johnson, former foreign secretary, at a conference in switzerland, quite striking language, just the kind of language that will appeal to brexiteer conservative mps and brexiteer supporting conservative party members, saying, we will leave the european union on october 31, deal or no deal. their way to get a good deal is to prepare for no deal. there is real frustration deal is to prepare for no deal. there is realfrustration among deal is to prepare for no deal. there is real frustration among a number of conservative brexiteers that they felt that the prime minister had taken away the option ofa no minister had taken away the option of a no deal because she never felt in her heart that should have been a real option. that is the kind of language that will appeal to them. earlier this afternoon, we heard thatjeremy hunt has said to his local newspaper that he is keen to contend for thejob as local newspaper that he is keen to contend for the job as well so what we are seeing is a turbo—charging of the leadership race, which has been

under way for several weeks already, but now we know definitively it is going to happen and the timescale it is going to happen, and we will see more candidates coming out. it will bea more candidates coming out. it will be a very crowded field. people are talking about 18 contenders. yes, and there is a huge responsibility on conservative mps because they will have to whittle down this huge list to just two and then a huge responsibility for the membership, around 100,000, a tiny fraction of the population at large, with the awesome responsibility of notjust using a party leader who at one stage the country can choose to accept or reject, but also to be prime ministerfrom the accept or reject, but also to be prime minister from the outset. but the first stages, which will be getting under way in just over a fortnight, whittling down this huge list of just two, fortnight, whittling down this huge list ofjust two, and loads of names now popping up. even so graham brady, the guy who has been the

backbench keeper of the letters, he is saying that he is going to stand down from that role because he is tempted to have a run to be the next conservative leader, as are the likes of steve baker on the brexiteer side of the argument. they will be a full panoply of candidates. their party is very keen this time to make sure it does not do what it did last time, which was a coronation without a contest, a proper examination of their views. but is of the political reality that if borisjohnson but is of the political reality that if boris johnson gets but is of the political reality that if borisjohnson gets his name on the final ballot paper, him and another contender, then it is his, because the party at large essentially love him? it would seem so at this stage but we were saying this a couple of years ago and it didn't quite happen for him, he didn't quite happen for him, he didn't even get to the final two, but he is the person everybody else has got to beat. why is that? of

conservatives recognise he is bonkers and the downsides of boris johnson, but the thing that's get mentioned over mentioned over and over again by conservative mps is that they think politically he is someone that they think politically he is someone who can bejeremy corbyn, the labour leader, and could also be at nigel farage, the leader of the brexit party. they are the prominent opponents of the conservative party, particularly if we head into a general election, which might be tempting for a new conservative leader, because they don't have a majority. so even those in the party who recognises the downsides to borisjohnson who recognises the downsides to boris johnson can see who recognises the downsides to borisjohnson can see his potential appeal beyond the usual conservative circles, particularly in chasing afterjeremy corbyn and nigel farage. looking a long way into the future already. thank you very much indeed. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament.

thank you. we havejust thank you. we have just got some schools climate change protesters behind us and it is busy on college green, opposite the houses of parliament. with me are two veteran observers of what is going on, and first of all, on theresa may, do you think she is going to be remembered as someone think she is going to be remembered as someone who simply tried her best and failed or someone who was never up and failed or someone who was never up to thejob? and failed or someone who was never up to the job? i think she tried her best and failed. i think history will be kinder to theresa may than current coverage. her best achievement was the immediate reaction to the sir cripple poisoning. —— skripals is an in. —— poisoning. —— skripals is an in. —— poisoning. so there are some wings among the obvious losses. a bit more

humanity, would that have helped? yes, and it is the first time we have seen any of her emotions in the la st have seen any of her emotions in the last couple of years. she has always shown doggedness and hardness and i think she is a woman who was dealt a bad hand. you can't escape the fact that she had a very short tenure, three years, that she lost a majority in a shambolic election, and that she failed to deliver on the one thing she came to power to do, which was brexit, and that is a bit sad that some of the good things she achieved and some of her positive points will be overshadowed by that big picture. labour supporters saying she still presided over austerity and a very divided country, but inevitably we move to who comes next. borisjohnson is the frontrunner. do you think he will last parliamentary process?” frontrunner. do you think he will last parliamentary process? i think he will be in the final two. right now i would say borisjohnson and

michael gove is... why michael gove? i think the election will come down to deal or no deal, and they will be one candidate who says they are prepared to take britain outcome what may, hell or high water, we will leave on october 31, and they will leave on october 31, and they will be one who won't say that. the one who doesn't say that will pick up one who doesn't say that will pick upa large one who doesn't say that will pick up a large proportion, possibly the majority of the conservative parliamentary vote. the one who dare say that has probably got the best chance of winning in the country. we have heard jeremy hunt say he is standing. steve baker is considering it. graham brady is considering it. there is going to be a massive choice. some would describe it as being the chariot race in ben her. they will be so many runners and riders. a lot of those will be whittled down pretty soon but boris is at the front runner. having said that, i was looking at some figures

today which shows that the favourite every time, going back to when ted heath was made leader, lost, apart from michael howard. so who would be the second person? you can't rule outjeremy the second person? you can't rule out jeremy hunt and the second person? you can't rule outjeremy hunt and sajid javid. dominic raab is another dark horse, coming up on the outside. he is a younger person but also a brexiteer. the thing is, the grassroot conservative associations will want brexiteers on the final ballot paper, so it is how brexit is delivered which will be the key question. it is possible that the tory membership does not get a vote if there when it comes through parliament. you are shaking your head, saying it is unlikely. it has happened recently. but just head, saying it is unlikely. it has happened recently. butjust explain the hustings process, because non—tories will be involved. the hustings process, because non-tories will be involved. first of all, it is a 2—stage process, mps whittled them down to two, then it goes out to the country, and they will be a hustings in every single

region, so 11 in all. they will open it up to nonmembers. it looks like an effort to make this a dry run for an effort to make this a dry run for a general election campaign. there seems to be a screen test for the next prime minister and somebody who might have to fight an election pretty quickly. isn't the risk without that you get either brexiteers, orjeremy corbyn supporters, that come to those hustings, and how would it work? they need somebody who can unite not only the party but the country as well. everything is divided at the moment. they will be looking for somebody who has got that magic formula. the question is, with brexit, the country has been divided not on the left and right, it is all about remain and leave, so perpetual us “— about remain and leave, so perpetual us —— it is so complicated, so nobody knows who has got the magic answer. very briefly, for brexit,

what does this mean? there will be be on october 31? my guess, still asking for an extension. yes, we will still be in the european union. isaid will still be in the european union. i said that on the first day after the referendum. it will never happen. hopefully it will one day. thank you very much. there has been speculation for months about who could replace theresa may as the conservative leader, ever since she confirmed she would stand down in an effort to get mps to accept her brexit deal. let's have a look at some of the main contenders. some mps have already thrown their hats into the ring. the foreign secretary jeremy hunt has been building support among mps, but can he get the support of the party members should

he find his name on the final ballot? then there's borisjohnson. the former foreign secretary is a popular within the grassroots of the party — a recent poll indicated that almost 40% of party members would support him as leader. former work and pensions minister esther mcvey has confirmed she'll stand. and has rory stewart, international development secretary. we're also expecting to hear a few more people putting their names forward including. andrea leadsom. she was in the final two with theresa may at the last leadership election. having quit as the leader of the house on wednesday over the prime minister's brexit deal, she has now said she will run graham brady has also stood down as the chairman of the 1922 committee so he can

consider whether to run in the conservative leadership race. and of course former brexit secretary dominic raab. former prime minister david cameron has expressed his sympathy for theresa may following her decision to stand down. i feel desperately sorry for cherries and fulfil it. she worked incredibly hard, she is a dedicated public servant, and i know what it feels like when you come to realise that your leadership time has finished, that the country needs a new leader and it is extremely difficult and painful to step outside downing street and to say those things, but i think she is and she was a dedicated public servant, she was a dedicated public servant, she worked incredibly hard on our behalf, i think she deserves our gratitude for that and this will be a very difficult day. how will the premiership be remembered?” a very difficult day. how will the premiership be remembered? i think she will be remembered as someone who worked very hard on our behalf,

was a dedicated public servant and was a dedicated public servant and was passionate about the future of this country. the government continued a very strong economic re cord continued a very strong economic record with record numbers of people in work, unemployment falling, the economy growmg, in work, unemployment falling, the economy growing, and they were huge difficulties she worked incredibly ha rd difficulties she worked incredibly hard to overcome. you said the last time we spoke that the problem for the prime minister was that people who wanted brexit in the conservative party just weren't voting for it. i know that she will feel extremely frustrated, as i think many of us feel frustrated, that ultimately the people who most wanted brexit in the end would not vote for it. as she said today, in the end you have to compromise in politics. compromise is not a dirty word. you can't always get exactly what you want and it is a shame that people couldn't see that. theresa may's time in office has been dominated by the issue of brexit and negotiations with the european union.

0ur correspondent adam fleming has been looking at the reaction in brussels. the european commission, which is of the organisation that runs the brexit talks day today paid tribute to theresa may and said the president of the commission took no personaljoy in her president of the commission took no personal joy in her announcement president of the commission took no personaljoy in her announcement of her resignation. but they said as far as they are concerned, nothing has changed. they will have to wait for a new prime minister who may have a new position and they will react to that. in terms of eu leaders, we have had statements and tweets from the irish prime minister, emmanuel macron from france, angela merkel, the prime minister of belgium, and it has boiled down to two things. thank you for being a good negotiating partner and not rocking the vote. secondly, the deal negotiated with the uk is the deal negotiated with the uk is the only one on the table and that

is not changing. there is not a lot of room for renegotiation. let's find out now how theresa may's announcement is being viewed across the uk. in a moment we'll hear from our correspondents emma vardy in londonderry and felicity evans in cardiff, but first sarah smith in glasgow. politicians here are of course trying to work out what theresa may's departure means for them and means for scotland. already nicola sturgeon has said that the prospect of what she calls an even more hard—line brexiteer coming in as prime minister and threatening possibly a no deal exit from the eu makes the case for scotland being allowed to choose an independent future even more strong. she has been arguing for another referendum on scottish independence and that is what is in the mind of scottish tories as well, those who have been praising theresa may have praised her commitment to the union, to keeping scotland in the uk, and the

influential leader of the scottish conservatives, ruth davidson, says when it comes to selecting her successor, she will be looking for somebody who believes scotland's place is firmly in the uk. here is felicity evans in cardiff. the first minister of wales, mark drakeford, has said he has never doubted theresa may's commitment to public service but he blames her inability to compromise for leaving us in inability to compromise for leaving usina inability to compromise for leaving us in a mess of her making, and he goes on to say that a conservative leadership, the set —— contest is the last thing the country needs as we negotiate one of the biggest challenges and uncertainties we have faced in decades, but paul davies, the leader of conservative assembly members in the assembly pay tribute to mrs may's dedication and he urged his party to unite to deliver the brexit people voted for. interestingly, there was a welsh opinion poll commissioned just a few days ago asking welsh voters who they like best for mrs may's

successor, and at the moment boris johnson is out in front. let's get a reaction in northern ireland with emma va rdy. some of theresa may's most difficult daysin some of theresa may's most difficult days in office were focused on trying to resolve the issues thrown up trying to resolve the issues thrown up by trying to resolve the issues thrown up by northern ireland and the irish border over brexit and some of those seemingly intractable problems posed by this place was a hurdle she never fully manage to overcome. theresa may never got the democratic unionist party to come on board with her deal and the dup's confidence and supply arrangement with the conservatives is due to expire shortly after her successor takes the reins. that will have to be renegotiated. the dup today have been pretty gracious and complimentary about theresa may but make no mistake, whoever steps into her shoes is going to face exactly the same set of tricky circumstances with the dup. sinn fein, the nationalist party, have been very

critical of the conservatives' relationship with the dup and all those tensions are still to be resolved over brexit. theresa may has been the mp for the berkshire market town of maidenhead for more than two decades. 0ur correspondent duncan kennedy has been hearing what her constituents thought of her resignation announcement — and their views on the extraordinary difficulties she faced in office. from brexit to berkshire. in nearby maidenhead, we broke the news to her constituents. theresa may has just announced she is resigning, leaving onjune announced she is resigning, leaving on june the 7th. i am gutted, actually. lovely lady. ijust think very harsh for her. she was never

going to do it, they were all against her. i thought it was very hard. she is a darn good constituency mp. i will be sad to see hergo, very constituency mp. i will be sad to see her go, very sad. with a majority of more than 26,000, mrs may's supporters could not get enough of her popular constituency mp, but the one goal of brexit eluded her. it should have all been sorted out now, this brexit business. she is putting people undera lot of business. she is putting people under a lot of pressure, notjust their people, everyone all over the world. she should have resigned ages ago. theresa may's vision of leading the —— leaving the eu was repeatedly blurred by her party and opposition resistance, but those who know her well say she was given an impossible task. it is a huge change. we have beenin task. it is a huge change. we have been in europe for 40 years. labour didn't want to go in, now they don't wa nt didn't want to go in, now they don't want to go out. you don't know where anyone is. it is right across all

the parties. theresa may will stay on as the local mp but she says she has failed to deliver what she most wa nted has failed to deliver what she most wanted and knows the job of achieving that will be a legacy left to someone else. as you can see, a beautiful day in berkshire. let's get a full weather forecast for the whole country with chris fox. the weather is set to turn a little bit cooler as we go through the next few days. we have seen plenty of sunshine today. cloud has been developing across wales and southern england. but it is the cloudy weather we have got in the mid—atlantic weather we have got in the mid—atla ntic that we weather we have got in the mid—atlantic that we are keeping an eye on. it will turn into an area of low pressure and then drive these weather fronts towards the uk as we go into the weekend. the cold front ultimately bringing cooler and fresher air our way. earlier today, we had some glorious sunny weather

in berkshire. almost clear blue skies. this evening, temperatures are staying at quite nicely. a little bit cooler across the north and west of the uk where we have got the thickest cloud. that continues to bring a little bit of patchy rain to bring a little bit of patchy rain to northern scotland. 0vernight that will tend to clear. we will be left with mild conditions overnight with temperatures between six and 12 degrees. later in the night we will start to see thicker cloud moving into northern ireland. outbreaks of rain to start the day for seven. as far as the bank holiday weekend goes, they will still be some sunny spells around but also some rain, particularly across the north and west, and temperatures will fall by a few degrees as we get into the weekend holiday period. saturday, not a bad start to the day for scotland, england and wales, but rain in northern ireland will spread to scotland as we go through the day. a bit of rain getting into the isle of man and cumbria. the brightest weather towards the south—east with temperatures still up south—east with temperatures still up to 22 degrees in london. further

north and west you can see those green colours in scotland where we have got the slightly cooler air. in the second half of the weekend, the cold front will start to push its way through, bringing cooler air. the rain clearing away quite quickly but heavy for a time across scotland and northern england. probably turning more showery as it pushes across wales and the rest of england. it will reach south—east england. it will reach south—east england late in the day. further north and west, temperatures cooling down. 15 degrees in belfast. that cooling process continues into a bank holiday monday, which looks like being quite an unsettled day with heavy showers, perhaps thundery at times, particularly across western areas, and temperatures continuing to fall. that is your latest weather.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines: a tearful theresa may finally concedes her time is up.

in two weeks the prime minister will resign as leader of the conservative party. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i've not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. her voice cracking with emotion, she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude. i will 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. after delivering her statement, the prime minster returned

to her berkshire constituency. she's a darn good constituency mp. be sad to see her go. very sad. she got lumbered with a job that nobody wanted and it was a bit harsh on her, but what can you say? the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt says he will run for the party leadership, joining his predecessor borisjohnson who has already confirmed his intentions. more than a dozen others are also believed to be considering their options. ten workers have been arrested over the alleged abuse of vulnerable patients at a hospital in county durham — which was filmed undercover by bbc panorama. two boys — aged 13 and 14 — have died after what police have described as a "serious incident" in sheffield.

let's get more now on the news that two boys — aged 13 and 14 — have died after what police have described as a "serious incident" in sheffield. six children were taken to hospital early this morning after officers were called to a property in the shiregreen area. four of them — aged between seven months and eleven — are still receiving treatment. a man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of murder. 0ur correspondent danny savage is in sheffield. bring us up—to—date with what the police are saying and what you have managed to find out. the house involved is just behind managed to find out. the house involved isjust behind me in the shiregreen area on the edge of sheffield. the house where the children were found this morning is a semidetached property over that hedge and that is where police have

seened off and forensics officers are carrying out a close examination of the property. they were called at about 7.30 this morning. later, six children who were in the house, were taken to hospital by paramedics and an airambulance and taken to hospital by paramedics and an air ambulance and there has been speculation about what happened here from people in the area. there was a suggestion at one point that a shooting had ta ken suggestion at one point that a shooting had taken place. that made police come out and say on the record, no there has been no shooting. at lunch time the police said the two eldest children, two boys, aged 13 and 14, had died. so the investigation is ongoing a and after that a senior police officer came here to give us the latest on what was happening. good afternoon, we are here on greg house road, a tragic scene of events. this morning the emergency services responded to a property on this street.

as a result of that, yorkshire air ambulance service attended here and a number of children were taken to hospital. sadly, two children have since died and fourchildren remain in hospital. as you can appreciate, this is a very early stages of our investigation, our detectives are supporting the family, the family are aware of the circumstances and our inquiry will continue to develop during the day. i think it is important that i reassure the wider community that there is no wider risk. two people have been arrested on suspicion of murderand remain in police custody. those two people arrested are a man and a woman, a man aged 37 and a woman aged 34. they're being weed. as for the conditions of other

children in hospital, concerns over them, while we were talking to that police officer, later he confirmed that the four children who are still being treated in hospital, aged seven months, three, ten and eleven, do not have, are not in a life—threaten conditions. so that is some consolation. they are still in hospital though being treated. but the investigation goes on. police won't be drawn as to what on earth happened here. there was speculation that a poisoning may be involved. the police wouldn't be drawn on that when we asked them questions. so a lot of unanswered questions as to what happened here that led to these children to be taken to hospital and led to two of them dying. but this area remains cordoned off as the investigation continues. thank you very much. that is danny savage with the latest from sheffield.

theresa may stood outside number ten and announced she's stepping down as conservative leader on june 7th. in a statement, mrs may said it was in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver brexit. she was close to tears as she said it had been "the honour of her life" to serve the country she loved. ever since i first stepped through the door behind me as prime minister, i've strif on the make the united kingdom a country that works not just for united kingdom a country that works notjust for a privileged few, but for everyone. and to honour the result of the eu referendum. back in 2016, we gave the british people a choice. against all predictions, the british people voted to leave the european union. i feel as

british people voted to leave the european union. ifeel as certain today as i did three years ago that ina today as i did three years ago that in a democracy, if you give people a choice, you have a duty to implement what they decide. i've done my best to do that. i negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbours that protects jobs, our security and with our closest neighbours that protectsjobs, our security and our union. i've done everything i can to convince mps to back that deal. sadly, i've not been able to do so. i tried three times. i believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. so i am today announcing i will resign as leader of the conservative and unionist party on friday seventh june of the conservative and unionist party on friday seventhjune so a successor can be chosen. i've agreed

with the party chairman and the chairman of 1922 committee that the process of electing a new leader should begin in the following week. i have kept her majesty the queen informed and i will continue to serve as her prime minister until the process is concluded. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i've not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of referendum, to succeed, he or she will have to find consensus in parliament where i've not. such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. for many years, the great humanitarian sir nicholas winton, who saved the lives of hundred of

children was my constituent. at another time of political controversy before his death, he took me to one side at a local event and gave me a piece of advice. he said, "neverforget and gave me a piece of advice. he said, "never forget that compromise is not a dirty word. life depends on co ' is not a dirty word. life depends on compromise." he was right. as we strive to find the compromises we needin strive to find the compromises we need in our politics, whether to deliver brexit or to restore devolved government in northern ireland, we must remember what brought us here. because the referendum was not just brought us here. because the referendum was notjust a call to leave the eu, but for propound in our country —— profound change. a call to make the united kingdom a count are i that works for everyone. i'm proud of the progress we have made over the last three years. we have completed the work that david cameron and george osborne started. the deficit is almost eliminated.

0ur the deficit is almost eliminated. our national debt is falling and we are are bringing an end to austerity. my focus has been on ensuring that the good jobs of the future will be created in communities across the whole country, not just in communities across the whole country, notjust in london and the south—east. through our modern industrial strategy. we have helped more people than ever enjoy the security of a job. we are building more homes and helping first time buyers on to the housing ladder, so young people can enjoy the opportunities their parents did. and we are protecting the environment. eliminating plastic waste, tackling climate change and improving air quality. this is what a decent conservative government on the common ground of british politics can achieve. even as we tackle the biggest peacetime challenge any government has faced. i know that the conservative party can renew itself in the years ahead. that we

can deliver brexit and serve the british people with policies inshired by our volcano —— inspired by our values. those values have guided me through my career. but the privilege of this office is to give a voice to the voiceless, to fight the burning injustices that scar our society. that is why i put funding for mental health at the heart of our nhs plan and why i'm ending the post code lottery for survivors of domestic abuse and why the gender pay reporting are shining a light on inequality, so it has nowhere to hide. and it is why i set up the independent public inquiry into the tragedy at grenfell tower, to search for the truth, so nothing like it can ever happen again, so the people

who lost their lives that night are never forgotten. because who lost their lives that night are neverforgotten. because this country is a union. notjust a family of four nations, but a union of people. all of us. whatever our background, the colour of our skin or who we live, we stand together and together we have a great future. 0ur politics may be under strain, but there is no much that is good about this country. so much to be proud of. so much to be optimistic about. 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.

the prime minister walking back into no ten after that statement that ended with her really... fighting back tears, as she talked about having served the country that she loves. there has been a lot of reaction to that. a lot of her conservative critics saying that she has served with great honour even though they have had disagreements with her. saying that she has worked with her. saying that she has worked with huge dignity in her three years as prime minister. trying her best to get a brexit deal through, but she will be defined by history as the brexit prime minister who failed to make brexit happen. let's get more reaction. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament.

i'm joined by three observers here. chris wilkins, you worked as theresa may's speech writer, what were your thoughts today, did she write the words herself? i thought it was a speech of two halves. the first half was a list of greatest hit and then went into the hits of the conservative government, which somebody would have written. there was a second half where she talked about her personal mission about giving a voice to the voiceless, that was a much more personal and emotional section. that probably, she may not have crafted the words itself, but it came from her. as it did when i wrote for her in 201 at the conference, but that turned into a disaster where she coughed all the way through. after that disastrous election, she wanted that to be a

personal speech about her personal mission and it was about giving a voice to people who don't feel they have a voice. maybe if we had heard more of that, but brexit drowned it out. what was she like to work for, did she display emotion? having known her for 20 years, did she display emotion? having known herfor 20 years, today did she display emotion? having known her for 20 years, today was probably the only day i have seen her display emotion. she is a professional person and will focus on thejob in hand. i worked on her when the country suffered a number of terrorist attacks and the way she responded tho those was focussed on thejob in hand. no doubt at the end of those days, which were tough days, she would close the day in no 11 downing street and maybe sort of show some emotion then. but in front of people like myself and civil servants, she was the consumate professional. she talked about

regrets of not being able to do the programmes shi wanted and talked of the need of people coming together. do you think that is how she will be remembered? no, her destiny will be to be remembered as only the first prime minister to be ensnarled in this endless thing that is brexit.” think she will be remembered as a failure. she tried hard and she will be remembered as a sincere, hard—working prime minister. but she will go down as a failure. there is only one word that will attached to herand only one word that will attached to her and that is brexit. sorry about the loud speaker behind us. i hope eve ryo ne the loud speaker behind us. i hope everyone can hear us. in term of who comes next, a number of people have put their name forward, boris johnson and jeremy hunt, will michael gove go for it? who else do you think will be the challengers? the question is who will be the

other candidate in the final two, alongside boris. boris johnson's name will be put to the members. i've no idea who that will be. it could bejeremy i've no idea who that will be. it could be jeremy hunt i've no idea who that will be. it could bejeremy hunt or sajid javid. whoever it is will probably lose to borisjohnson. i whoever it is will probably lose to boris johnson. i think whoever it is will probably lose to borisjohnson. i think he will be prime minister. what do you think the second person will be and do you think borisjohnson the second person will be and do you think boris johnson can the second person will be and do you think borisjohnson can get through a campaign without tripping himself up. a short campaign will benefit borisjohnson. he said he would go for no deal. that is a big challenge for no deal. that is a big challenge for the mp5 who said they would vote tactically. maybe somebody like graham brady or andrea leadsom, who can say i'm more moderate and can keep boris out of the final two. as to the other name, it will be somebody in the establishment like

jeremy hunt. but if borisjohnson gets through they will lose. boris johnson it is his to leave. i am surprised to hear him being so definitive about no deal. because boris has not said that is his definite preferred outcome, he said britain will leave on october 31st. that is the kind of mistake that theresa may made, that was a definitive statement they can't dlefr on. —— deliver on. definitive statement they can't dlefr on. -- deliver on. is it because he is playing to the audience. no one doubts his brexit credentials, he needs to talk to the other side of party. we could be in for a delicious run off and unfinished business from 2017 with borisjohnson against unfinished business from 2017 with boris johnson against michael gove. do you think michael gove has enough backing in parliament? he can say he

has leave credentials, but people think is more moderate and more trust worthy than boris johnson. michael gove dit win people around —— did win people around and he seemed to have the ability to deal with this crisis. but he is not popular with the public and therefore you know there is no reason why tory members should think about whether they want a no deal brexiteer as leader. it will be difficult, but borisjohnson could trip up at any point, during the mp5 stage or the members stain —— stage. i share chris's surprise that boris johnson has boxed himself in on the question of taking us out without a deal on 315t october. question of taking us out without a deal on 31st october. parliament of course could vote for, give a vote of no confidence to any prime minister who tries to take us out on no deal. that is still leaving us in

a stalemate and a general election, you vote boris, you getjeremy corbyn. exactly, that will be the argument that his opponents will make. the one thing conservatives don't want is an election. by saying he will take us out come what may, he will take us out come what may, he is saying he is the candidate of a general election and we may look back at that as the moment that he lost the election. is it fair in this massive moment of division, that only tory mps and tory members get to choose the next prime minister, shouldn't it go back to the public in a referendum or a general election? well, those are the rules in terms of how it works to choose the prime minister and they will not change. but i think to deliver some form of brexit we need some kind of vote. i think the sensible thing to do is to say let's have a further referendum, make it no deal versus remain. i'm not in favour of no deal. if that is what

people vote for, that is what we have to go for. until we have a further vote, it will be stalemate. i don't see how we get out of it. thank you. some people saying that is where we have got to, a choice of the extremes essentially, heading towards us. no deal versus remain. because there has been no agreement of course around theresa may's way forward. she is due to step down officially at the start of that process in two weeks' time. thank you. professor tim bale is the author of the conservative party: from thatcher to cameron. he joins us now via webcam. from a historical perspective, do you think history will be kind to theresa may? no, ithink it is you think history will be kind to theresa may? no, i think it is the kind of thing that we like to say, particularly when you know we have a good deal of human sympathy for the

figure who almost broke down in tea rs figure who almost broke down in tears in downing street, but to be honest, i don't think her record is going to inspire anyone in the future to think more highly of her than most people do today. will she just go down as the brexit prime minister who didn't make brexit map or couldn't make brexit happen? yes. not only that, i think people will criticise the way she's gone about trying to make brexit happen. i think really her problem was her interpretation of the referendum result as a vote for a hard brexit, in other words coming out of customs union and the single market and as a result that made it impossible i think for her to bring the country together and to get together the kind of cross party majority that i think was on offer for a rather softer brexit if you like, more like a norway deal, than the one it looks like we will have. she did recently,

she had talks with the labour party and tried a different tack. she tried to compromise with the opposition and that didn't get her anywhere either. no, ithink opposition and that didn't get her anywhere either. no, i think the operative word is recently. it is a case of too late, too late, she cried. theresa may to achieve that kind of consensus would have had to come out batting for it right at the start. instead, she chose a much more partisan route and hoped she could make it happen through conservative party votes alone. she went for a general election to make sure that happened and of course blew her majority. then had to rely on the dup to get a deal, which of course made the kind of deal that most people would have gone for almost imposs yin. she could have —— impossible. she could have chose to quit after the general election. but she carried on. the criticism that she carried on. the criticism that she was too inflexible and too

determined to get a conservative ha rd determined to get a conservative hard brexit, rather than one to pull the country together. what do you think will happen next, who will win the leadership contest and what does that plean for the country? —— mean for the country? i have no more idea than other people, other to say if borisjohnson, as than other people, other to say if boris johnson, as many than other people, other to say if borisjohnson, as many have said, can get through the parliamentary round, he must be the favourite with membership. this contest will be conducted against the background of a huge tory loss in the european elections to the brexit party, led toa elections to the brexit party, led to a charismatic leader and the tory party will be pulled together boris johnson as somebody who can match nigel farage. whether he will make much of a prime minister, that is a moot point. thank you very much.

theresa may setting the date ofjune seventh as the date she will resign as conservative party leader, triggering a contest for the party leadership. that will take about six weeks. by the end ofjuly, her successor should be in place and until then she will stay on as care taker prime minister. now we will look at the weather. we are looking ahmed a ahead to the bank holiday. plenty of sunshine today. cloud has been developing in wales and southern england. it is the cloudier weather in the atlantic that we are watching, that will turn into an area of low pressure that will drive these fronts towards the uk through these fronts towards the uk through the weekend. the cold front bringing

cooler and fresher air our way. earlier some sunny weather in berkshire. almost clear blue skies there. for tonight, temperatures staying in high teens to low twenties. cooler in the north and west where we have the cloud. that continues to bring some patchy rain to northern scotland. but that will clear. we will be left with mild conditions with temperatures between six and 12 degrees. later in the night, we will see thicker cloud moving into northern ireland and some rain to start the day. for the bank holiday weekend, still some sunshine around. but some rain particularly across the north and west and temperatures falling by a few degrees through the weekend holiday. saturday not a bad start with bright or sunny spells. rain in northern ireland will spread to scotland. perhaps some rain in the isle of man and cumbria. the driest weather towards the south—east with

temperatures still up to 22 degrees in london. further north and west you can see the green colours in scotland. the second half of the weekend, our cold front will push through, bringing cooler air and some rain. the rain clearing from northern ireland quickly. but the rain heavy for a time across scotla nd rain heavy for a time across scotland and northern england. turning more showerly as it pushes across wales and the rest of england. reaching south east england late in the day. so temperatures still 20 degree. to the north and west, 15 degrees in belfast. that cooler continues into monday which looks like being an unsettled day with heavy showers. and the temperatures continue to fall. 13 in edinburgh. 18 towards london.

you're watching a bbc news special with me, ben brown, in downing street, where a tearful theresa may has finally announced she will quit as conservative leader on the 7th ofjune. 0ur headlines: theresa may said she would stay in number ten until a new leader is elected injuly. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. her voice cracking with emotion, she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude. 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. i think the prime minister deserves our respect and gratitude. after delivering her statement, the prime minster returned to her berkshire constituency. she is a darn good constituency mp. i will be sad to see hergo, very sad. she got lumbered with a job that no one wanted and i think it was a bit harsh on her really, but what can you say? the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has announced he will run for the party leadership, as well as his predecessor borisjohnson. we'll have the latest from westminster.

welcome to downing street, where theresa may announced her resignation earlier, her voice cracking with emotion as she said she'd be leaving the job it had been the honour of her life to hold. in a statement delivered outside number ten, mrs may said it would always be a matter of deep regret that she'd been unable to deliver brexit. she'll resign as party leader formally on the 7th ofjune, then stay on as caretaker prime minister, while the party decides her successor. theresa may has agreed with the chairman of tory backbenchers that the leadership contest should begin the following week, on the 10th june. that contest is expected to take six weeks, which would mean we could have a new prime minister

in place by the end ofjuly. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. after months of intense pressure, her husband and top aides watching, theresa may admitted for her, and her brexit plan, it's over. i have done everything i can to convince mps to back that deal. sadly, i have not been able to do so. i tried three times. i believe it was right to persevere, even when the odds against success seemed high. but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort. so i am today announcing that i will resign as leader of the conservative and unionist party on friday the 7th of june so that a successor can be chosen. she hasn't been able to call the shots for some time, unable to persuade a bitterly divided parliament to back her brexit plan.

and after a last throw of the dice this week, the pm concluded shejust could not go on. it is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. to succeed, he or she, will have to find consensus in parliament where i have not. such a consensus can only be reached if those on all sides of the debate are willing to compromise. that will be easier said than done. mrs may leaves behind a party that is split on what comes next. the latest in a long line of tory leaders brought down over europe. 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. an intensely human moment from a prime minister many have seen as robotic. politics can be a painful business. theresa may had insisted for months that her brexit plan was the only show in town, but today she has admitted defeat and handed the difficult task to her successor, trying to get something, perhaps anything, through parliament. the race to replace mrs may will officially begin in a fortnight, and the party wants someone new in here by mid—july. this is not an episode of game of thrones. this is governing our country. the people of this country have voted to leave the european union and we have to deliver that and honour a contract that parliament has made. today is a day for all of us to reflect on the prime minister's achievements, to thank her for everything she has done for this country, and to show her the respect

and gratitude that she deserves for always putting this country first. but amid friendly tributes, theresa may's legacy will be complex, with considerable criticism over her strategy. she clearly cannot command a majority in parliament. she clearly has lost the confidence of her own mps. in all the discussions she's been having with her mps, they've all said one thing to her, that they don't support her strategy. you've got to recognise there is a need for a change of direction in this country. and she's not offered it, and i would be very surprised if any of her successors offered it. i wish theresa may well. she and i had profound disagreements. i disagreed with her handling of brexit and her disregard for scotland's interests in that process. i don't think it was any secret that our relationship was not an easy one but also i know how tough leadership is. shortly after announcing her departure plans,

theresa may left downing street for her constituency. time to reflect on what went wrong, perhaps what could have been done differently. soon mrs may will be departing number ten for good. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is here. we have all been talking about the prime minister's statement but already the talk in westminster is moving on to who is going to succeed her. we are hearing various contenders declaring they are going to run. it is a pretty brutal business. she won't be going until the leader is in place but already jeremy hunt has said he will throw his hat into the ring. and of course all eyes on boris johnson, his hat into the ring. and of course all eyes on borisjohnson, who has been pretty quiet in recent weeks, but he has made a speech in switzerland, talking about the possibility of leaving the eu on the

3ist possibility of leaving the eu on the 31st of october, saying we need to leave on that date, deal or no deal. and his point being, which has been made by a lot of conservatives, is that you get a good deal by preparing for a no deal, and many felt theresa may did not take that seriously enough and that is why she ended up with the problems she had. the question for borisjohnson is going to be, he is going to have to appeal to brexiteers who want no deal because he has to win through with the tory grassroots and persuade conservative mps. he could be up against people like dominic rob, steve baker, both from that wing of the party, but the reality is going to be the same problems that theresa may had. does he talk about renegotiation, will the eu allow him to do that. is he serious about a no—deal brexit? will they try to give him something to work with? it is an incredibly difficult task for whoever takes over. what is

fascinating is the turnaround for borisjohnson. a year ago, he was being written off. a tory member said to me the party will turned to him when they are desperate. and they are now pretty desperate. a brexiteer will probably end up leading the party. is it his to lose? there is a long way to go and problems can arise but the question is, how determined are his opponents. there are conservatives who say they will run and anyone but boris campaign. but as they say he is our man. it is going to be very interesting. thank you very much. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament. thank you very much. i am joined in

westminster. you have known boris johnson since university. is he the right person to take brexit forward now? he is certainly the most likely person to be leader of the tory party and taking brexit forward. the right person? that depends on your view of brexit and whether you think that time has come to do something fundamentally different, talk with the eu in a different tone. not haggle as much, like theresa may try to do. i think what he has persuaded his party, even though there are a lot of mps behind us who were boris phobic. but now, particularly in light of the european elections, they think they are steering disaster in the face and they are prepared to take the risk. is it inevitable that borisjohnson wins this race? i don't think it is

inevitable because every tory leadership election, the obvious has not happened, but i think it is likely and i think it would be a complete catastrophe for the country. frankly, this whole mess has been driven by the tory party and the would—be leaders caring more about themselves than they do about the country. i think borisjohnson would be yet another one. the public say the whole time, why can't we just have politicians who tell the truth? but two of the biggest liars who got us into this mess are the ones being most rewarded. nigel farage looks like doing very well in the european elections and boris johnson looks like becoming prime minister. they would say they are totally honest. they can say what they want, but borisjohnson has a prove n they want, but borisjohnson has a proven track record as a lawyer in his public and private life and the public need to wake up to that. borisjohnson is public need to wake up to that. boris johnson is not public need to wake up to that. borisjohnson is not here to defend himself. certainly not the only politician who has been accused of

being economical with the truth. i am not fond with that kind of language. but he does lie. you have made your strategy. like donald trump, he helped win the referendum, knowingly lying about things, and it looks like he is going to be prime minister. elected by a small group. he is going to become prime minister without the public being involved.” am going to get a word in. this whole rhetoric about throwing around lying... i don't throw it around ln it happens. —— unless it happens. have you been in touch with conservative party negotiators? jeremy hunt is seen as more centrist in the party and could reach out more widely across the population. you would think so, and that would bejeremy you would think so, and that would be jeremy hunt, sajid javid you would think so, and that would bejeremy hunt, sajid javid in a similar territory, but bejeremy hunt, sajid javid in a similarterritory, butjeremy bejeremy hunt, sajid javid in a similar territory, butjeremy hunt is the number two hopeful behind

borisjohnson, is the number two hopeful behind boris johnson, whatever is the number two hopeful behind borisjohnson, whatever one is the number two hopeful behind boris johnson, whatever one might think of borisjohnson. but the tory party is very shrunken and its members tend to come from a wing of the party, like it or not, who are more likely to support boris johnson, so we will see what the swell of support is at westminster. the other candidate might go to the country with mps behind them, but there is a lot of people being over familiar with boris johnson, but there is a lot of people being over familiar with borisjohnson, but if he sweeps the board, in the country, the membership as it now is wilful in behind him and they will decide whether they think boris has told lies, told the truth, or whether they just want him lies, told the truth, or whether theyjust want him anyway. we are waiting for the eu election results, which we will get on sunday, monday. what about labour? could there be a challenge to labour leadership? the labour party are not going to do well in these european elections. i

believe it is a reason for that, one of the reasons for that, it's because they have been so unequivocal about backing a peoples vote. i hope they come out unequivocally for that and start to talk about, tell the truth about our relationship with the european union. i hope that the labour party shifts position. what about the chances of a split within the labour mps? all that is still up for grabs. definitely, because of the labour party is divided, but you are going to have a lot of candidates who are going to come out this week and say they were completely let down by the leadership and we will see where that goes. the labour party members are united. they want a peoples vote and they want to remain. it is that weak leadership and a non—campaign that has helped get us into this mess. i don't think the labour party should be at all complacent about what is going on. borisjohnson, if he does become prime minister, is

arrogant enough to think he can call an election and destroyjeremy corbyn. deal or no deal, boris says we will be out at the end of 0ctober. that could lead to an election because the house of commons could have a vote of no confidence in any prime minister that tries to take britain out with ano that tries to take britain out with a no deal. we will see what the mood is in the commons, it depends what borisjohnson decides to do. but there is also a calculation here, if you become leader of the conservative party after a very long time of aspiring to that, and for all of borisjohnson's ways of making jokes and walking around this, he really, really wants it. when do you risk that general election? the labour party has got a big case to answer for its position on brexit but it is not really jeremy corbyn sitting with the big sore head, it is a conservative party who have just seen the prime minister fail at party who have just seen the prime ministerfail at what she party who have just seen the prime minister fail at what she set out to

do. very briefly, any sympathy for theresa may? you have to have some sympathy at the human level but it is the first time people have seen any emotion. there was no emotion over windrush, no emotion over the rough sleepers, mental health services, going backwards, and the problem is that these people, boris johnson, michael gove, all they care about is the conservative party and the country is not involved in this, so the country is not involved in this, so not really. i think it was a very sad day. i think it felt so unfinished. the prime minister did not go anywhere. 0f unfinished. the prime minister did not go anywhere. of course, we have seen not go anywhere. of course, we have seen people go in tears, we have seen seen people go in tears, we have seen them go looking a bit cross, but margaret thatcher, it was after a long period at the helm or you get defeated in an election, that is what is supposed to happen, it is a rough old trade, politics. i think she was disappointed in herself and for that alone i would probably be

more charitable than my learned friend over here. thank you both are very much indeed. the cliche is that all careers in politics end in failure. that is a very true cliche, i think. there has been speculation for months about who could replace theresa may as the conservative leader, ever since she confirmed she would stand down in an effort to get mps to accept her brexit deal. let's have a look at some of the main contenders.some mps have already thrown their hats into the ring. the foreign secretaryjeremy hunt has been building support among mps, but can he get the support of the party members should he find his name on the final ballot? then there's borisjohnson. the former foreign secretary is a popular within the grassroots of the party. a recent poll indicated that almost 40% of party members would support him as leader. former work and pensions

minister esther mcvey has confirmed she'll stand. and has rory stewart international development secretary. we're also expecting to hear a few more people putting their names forward including. andrea leadsom. she was in the final two with theresa may at the last leadership election. having quit as the leader of the house on wednesday over the prime minister's brexit deal, she has said she is seriously considering running again. graham brady has also stood down as the chairman of the 1922 committee so he can consider whether to run in the conservative leadership race. and of course former brexit secretary dominic raab. they could be may be 18, maybe 20

contenders. so no shortage of runners and riders in this particular race. i'm joined now by conservative mp grant schapps. thank you very much for being with us. we should talk about the prime minister and her statement in downing street. what did you make of that, because it ended on a very emotional note and the prime minister close to tears. it is a hugely emotional day for her personally and i think whatever else people think about the prime minister, she was trying her best, she was intent on trying to get this deal through, and i think she genuinely believed a long time after the rest of us had realised it wasn't going to happen, that she could still somehow find a way to get it through. we saw these desperate attempts in the last few days. the genuine level of emotion, some people would say, rightly, that it isa some people would say, rightly, that it is a shame we haven't seen quite so it is a shame we haven't seen quite so much passion and emotion come through at other times, but a big

day for her. i am told that you have your finger very day for her. i am told that you have yourfinger very much on day for her. i am told that you have your finger very much on the pulse as to how many conservative mps are supporting which particular contenders in the forthcoming race. so who do you think is going to win? ithink... by so who do you think is going to win? i think... by the way, it was only a question of asking people and keeping track of it. i think probably this will end up being a race between a leave voter and a remain voter, and that is probably a good outcome for the party. at a guess, jeremy hunt, who i think has been distinguished as foreign secretary, will have the support. he was a remain voter, like i was in the 2016 referendum, but accepts that the country voted to leave and so that the country voted to leave and so he will pursue a proper brexit. and then on the remain —— on the leave aside, you are down to a really either dominic raab or boris

johnson. boris is well ahead in that particular contest on the leave aside. i would particular contest on the leave aside. iwould imagine particular contest on the leave aside. i would imagine you will end up aside. i would imagine you will end up something like a johnson and jeremy hunt final. although i have to say, a huge health warning to all of that. depending on how you feel about it, it is either the most sophisticated electorate in the world or the most duplicitous, and you can decide which.” world or the most duplicitous, and you can decide which. i think that isa you can decide which. i think that is a very true, but what would you say, is there any possibility that conservative mps would not put mr johnson on the ballot paper? the conventional wisdom is that whenever he is on the ballot paper, it is his to lose because he is pretty popular out in the party at large. do you have any doubt that he could get onto the final two? you only have to look back when leadership election to see that that is possible. i

think he was the frontrunner in 2016 as well. having said that, i think he has become very serious about this, perhaps in a way that he wasn't in the outcome of the referendum, hadn't really thought about the leadership. he has now had about the leadership. he has now had a long time to think about it, a much more planned approach, and he looks much more serious as a candidate. and i think that he is probably going to find himself in that final. but, as i say, that is just what the numbers suggest at the moment. i don't think he can afford to ta ke moment. i don't think he can afford to take anything for granted, neither can any of these candidates. the interesting about having a leadership contest like this, it is happening because of brexit but what we all want to know about as mps and members in the country and the country as a whole, what there is a leader have to say about the future of britain in the post brexit world, beyond the subject of brexit. what are they saying about domestic

legislation, what are they saying about britain's place in the global order? what are our plans? i think the candidate who is best able to annunciate and describe what they think britain's role should be in the future is the one that will win through with the membership and the country when we get to a general election. i am very grateful for your time. thank you forjoining us. i'm joined now by conservative mp tom tugendhat. what are your thoughts? how do you see this leadership contest going? we are told maybe 18, 20 candidates. that is a lot of contenders. i think the grand national seems to be running twice this year, which is slightly unusual. people in tonbridge today, as you know, a fantastic town, the mood is really to get on with it as quickly as possible. their views, as you can

imagine, are pretty diverse. but the key is to have somebody who can demonstrate capability and integrity and the ability to get the process done. that is the question, how it is done. are we looking at a potential leader who is prepared to leave with no deal? is that what the conservative party out there in the country is looking for?” conservative party out there in the country is looking for? i am afraid lam country is looking for? i am afraid i am still not quite sure what people mean when they say no deal because, do they mean absolutely no deal at all? no, because, do they mean absolutely no dealat all? no, they because, do they mean absolutely no deal at all? no, they mean some form of deal. so the question we are talk about is, what are the deals that whoever it is is willing to do, given that we are going to have to find a way through this. i am looking for somebody who can really talk about the preparation that this country needs for the amazingly transformed world we live in today. how do we train our young people better? how do we get people into

employment? how do we face up to the situation that confront us? that demands somebody who has got imagination and capability. and who is that in your book? who are you going to vote for? i think the person who has demonstrated the most ability in government who is also a brexiteer, for me, i think you need to be someone who voted for brexit, and michael gove led the leave campaign, one of the people who led the leave campaign, and he has demonstrated in two or three departments now that he has a remarkable ability to be transformative in office, and i think that is something we need. thank you very much for your time. we can now go to the isle of skye to talk to the snp leader in westminster ian blackford. what was your reaction when you saw the prime minister resigning with that emotional statement in downing

street? i think it is a statement that has been expected for some time and ina that has been expected for some time and in a sense we have a zombie government. the prime minister has failed to get support for her deal and there has been an inevitability for sometime. the tragedy of all this is we are going to spend the next two months in an internal tory leadership election. we'll have a new prime minister by the end of july but parliament then goes on recess. we a re july but parliament then goes on recess. we are not going to come back until september, we are back for a couple of weeks, we then go back on recess again, come back in the middle of october and we will have very little time left to bring this brexit chaos to a conclusion. there is a very real question as to whether or not we are going to be ready to meet the deadline that the european union has given us as the end of october. this is a crisis, this is a chaos and it is when we need to resolve. the fact this is going to be an internal tory fight over the next two months really doesn't help. what we need to do is recognise the gravity of the

situation and put this back to the people. quite frankly, we ought to be stopping brexit, given the chaos that will come notjust be stopping brexit, given the chaos that will come not just from what we are going through now but the impact brexit would have on jobs and our communities. given that we are talking about the various tory leadership contenders, do you think actually the likelihood or the possibility of a no deal brexit come the end of october is more likely thanit the end of october is more likely than it was? i would have to say, at the moment, you are looking, all the pundits are saying borisjohnson is the favourite, and a no deal din audio seems to be the option he may favour. i think parliament may have to ta ke favour. i think parliament may have to take responsibility if that is the case and i must remind everyone that we have the option of revoking article 50 and stopping this process because leaving the european union with no deal would be disastrous. we are talking about losing hundreds of thousands of jobs, cutting

are talking about losing hundreds of thousands ofjobs, cutting us off from our biggest trading markets in the european union. it would not be a price worth paying. in such a scenario, we would have to look at that option of revoking. we would have to stop borisjohnson and anyone else who would want to do that from inflicting back pain and damage on s. i was interested listening to tom, saying he was going around tonbridge, i have been going around tonbridge, i have been going around tonbridge, i have been going around the i of skye and people are saying this is chaos, is crisis. when you contrast what is going on at westminster with the government in edinburgh, who are getting on with business, it makes the case for scottish independence. and you talked about what parliament might do to stop brexit, but could it, if we get to that situation, hypothetically, a future tory region leader, borisjohnson hypothetically, a future tory region leader, boris johnson or anybody else, could parliament actually stop no deal and would there be the numbers to stop that? from a legal point of view, i am grateful that a

number of scottish parliamentarians did go to the european court of justice and got that determination that parliament and westminster does have the power unilaterally to stop the process through revoking article 50. so in any legislation that comes forward that would enshrine no deal, we have to make sure that we have that option of revocation on the order paper, and i do believe if we are looking at no deal, that parliament would vote in a majority to stop this process, quite simply because the economic impact that would have would be pretty severe. we would have to stop that happening. that would be the responsibility we all have. thank you very much for your time. we are going to go back to college green now. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament. iam i am with our correspondent chris morris, who has followed all the detail of what has happened.

she talked about compromise. a lot of people saying it she has come to it late. did she sew the seeds of her own failure. don't forget she had campaigned for remain. when she took office, there wasn't much sense she was seeking middle ground. her first big speech was in 2016 and she set out a vision of leaving the single market and the customs union, ending the free movement of people and the role of european court of justice in the uk, all the while retaining free trade. those red lines have become familiar. at the time, that speech was greeted with astonishment in other european capitals, because it felt it was closing doors to compromise and it

alienated a lot of pro—remain mps. six months later, she went ahead and triggered article 50. to start the two years of brexit negotiation. at a time there was no consensus in the uk, either in parliament or outside, about what brexit actually meant. so she didn't set the ground for compromise to start with. in terms of what she offered this week, she looked as though she was trying to try to every faction within parliament and many of the people condemned it. again, it was a late last minute compromise attempt. when you got into the difficult weeds of negotiation, that is when compromise began to come to the fore. that resulted in the withdrawal agreement. but by the time the withdrawal agreement emerged, the divide on brexit has become

entrenched between we leave, clean break, or we remain, entrenched between we leave, clean break, orwe remain, that entrenched between we leave, clean break, or we remain, that that temperature to find compromise in the middle ground was doomed. so i think she did sew the seeds of her own destruction, because she created expectations among particularly her own mps, who supported leave, which she was then unanswerable to fulfil when it came to the detail of negotiation with the other eu countries. a key question - has the withdrawal agreement be renegotiated by whoever wins the tory leadership race? they're going to try, but i think we have seen this film before. we know the eu has said the withdrawal agreement is closed, there will be no further renegotiation offered. the agreement to extend the brexit process contained an agreement that the withdrawal agreement will not be

renegotiated. whatever wins the leadership could go back to brussels and try again. but i find it hard to believe that what the other eu leaders wouldn't offer theresa may they would offer a new leader, because they won't say, i'm in charge now. they get to the position that it charge now. they get to the position thatitis charge now. they get to the position that it is either renegotiate the whole thing, or leave without a deal. we are back to a phrase we have heard before, if you like, i suspect from the next leader, no deal is better than a bad deal, but it doesn't get rid of the choice that must be made about what no deal could mean. boris johnson has said, you have got to have no deal on the table to negotiate a deal. if him or any of the other contenders said we wa nt any of the other contenders said we want a any of the other contenders said we wanta time any of the other contenders said we want a time limit on the backstop thashs, that could be added on, do you think that window is still open? if you talk to eu officials about the backstop, they perhaps now accept that maybe things could have

been done differently. but the idea that a more hard line brexiteer goes to brussels and say, we must renegotiate and we capitulate, it does feel that is what is about to happen. i think their hope on the eu side is more that if a tougher brexiteer in no ten will find it easier to sell compromises to their supporters. if you look around the world, the israeli palestinian conflict, it is the hard liners that get decisions made. that could be their hope. but we may see opinion in brussels and here in london running on very different tracks. in brussels and here in london running on very different tracksm it cops down to revoke or no deal, in whatever form, as a referendum it cops down to revoke or no deal, in whateverform, as a referendum or ina in whateverform, as a referendum or in a general election, can parliament stop no deal, or is that still the default, if it was going

to stop it, how. this has become the subject of debate. as in the run up to 29th march, the default position is if nothing changes, you leave without a deal. because the legal agreement runs out on 31st october. you have to get into the debate and it gets into rules of parliamentary procedure, wow how would mps be able to ta ke procedure, wow how would mps be able to take control in some way of parliamentary procedures to do that. we did see that happen earlier this year. there are some who say it could be more difficult next time. i suspect in theory, ye you have to say, you wouldn't be able to stop it. always i would suspect ways can be found in a democratic system like the house of commons for a vote to be had, because you could have amendments to all sorts of bills that would have to be put through to prepare for no deal. if brussels are

faced with a british prime minister who is more happy with a no deal exit, doesn't that change the negotiation position, isn't that the point of brexiteers, they want somebody who is a believer in a hard brexit? yes, you could argue that was david davies position, we have to make them believe we are going to leave. 0ver to make them believe we are going to leave. over the time the eu didn't believe theresa may would take us out with no deal. but the other thing about no deal, it is not an end in itself. if you have no deal, eventually you have got to start talking to the other side again and the other 27 countries have made it clear that if there are to be no deal, the first things they would wa nt deal, the first things they would want too talk about with the uk after a no—deal brexit, these will sound familiar, the financial settle, the irish border and

citizens' rights. the things that we re citizens' rights. the things that were at the heart of the theresa may's withdrawal agreement. thank you very much. thank you. i'm joined thank you. i'mjoined by thank you. i'm joined by our political correspondent. we have exciting news, not only do we have one leadership contest, we have two. vince cable announcing he will hand over to his successor on 23rd july. that could be the same day as the conservatives announce their new leader. sir vips has sir since has been leaderfor two leader. sir vips has sir since has been leader for two years. he will unexpectedly be going out on a high after the local election results, the liberal democrats feel they're starting to claw their way back and many predicting that they have done well in the european elections,

because of their stance on brexit and a clear message about trying to stop brexit and making sure article 50 doesn't happen through another referendum. he will be, well the leadership campaign will be launched and it is a question of who will stand. they don't have much of a pool to schoos from. they —— choose from. probablyjo swinn son is the favourite. she has experience and has fought a marginal seat and lost a seat and won it back. against her will be ed davy. those are the other front runners. another contest to look forward to. a narrower field than the tories the. the tories may have 18 contenders, two with the liberal democrats. not quite the same choice. the conservatives, we will see how many decide not to go ahead. probably a lot will drop out.

but it is a different feel. thank you. that breaking news, the leadership contest in the liberal democrats. my colleague geeta guru—murthy is outside the houses of parliament. we arejust we are just gathering our guests here. i'm joined by we are just gathering our guests here. i'mjoined by paul we are just gathering our guests here. i'm joined by paul scully. paul, just your response first of all to today's announcement, it wasn't a shock, but your thoughts on theresa may's speech and her departure. i thought her speech was heart felt and showed her sense of duty, the emotion she has put into trying to get brexit over the line. i hope that she can now get away and ta ke i hope that she can now get away and take stock after really a difficult period. who are you backing for leader? i haven't chosen anybody. i have been talking to people, asking

how they will work on brexit and when we talk of the future relationship and make sure everyone is involved and for us as a party, how we get back to the domestic issue about talking to people about being the party for change and we have a lot of people, but i will ta ke have a lot of people, but i will take my time. because it is the next prime minister of the country that we are looking for. of course, a number of people have put themselves forward , number of people have put themselves forward, what do you think of people like sirgraham forward, what do you think of people like sir graham brady and jeremy hunt, who said he will stand and michael gove and others? these guys have a lot to offer. they're experienced and they know, jeremy hunt for example, has been delivering and he has been at the heart of the nhs and been in a department that is crucial to the country and is used to delivering for the people. but there are others as well that haven't been in

government and we shouldn't forget that. they can offer change and a breakfrom that. they can offer change and a break from the old, which some people are looking for as well, to look forjust people are looking for as well, to look for just not an people are looking for as well, to look forjust not an establishment vote, but something that can break this old fashioned politics and move forward. what is your sense of what the members want, borisjohnson has had a lot of attention today, but the leadership races are unpredictable and we don't know how it will play out. boris is somebody i've worked with as a london mp, he does reach into the parts of the country that other politicians can't necessarily very easily. he is polarising. yes, that will be the debate. because he is polarising within the party. what you find from people like him and james cleverley and others, they will start to reach out and it is important they listen.

i want to bring in another guest, catherine hadden. there is attention on what it means for brexit and we have heard from borisjohnson that it is deal or no deal, brexit will happen at the ends of october. if parliament doesn't want that, trying to establish can the withdrawal agreement be renegotiated and can parliament stop that? it is going to be more difficult for parliament to do that, using the mechanisms that we have seen in the last six months, they don't have the meaningful vote mechanism any more, a series of votes that allowed them to amend business motions and use all sorts of techniques and get the speaker to support them. they can have opposition day motions, if there are any of those that allow labour to put down something that says we don't agree with no deal. they could have an emergency debate. but unlike

legislation, it is not binding on the government. that said, it will indicate where the will of the house is, if the house in the next few weeks, said that actually no deal should be off the table, we don't wa nt should be off the table, we don't want to see it in any way, shape or form, that would put the new conservative leader and new prime minister ina conservative leader and new prime minister in a different position. so they would know where the will of they would know where the will of the house is and could command a majority and it would be difficult for a new prime minister coming in saying, i want no deal to happen, when parliament's said you can't. that soundses very convoluted. what is the likelihood, given the parliamentary time table. this is happening in the conservative party, it isa happening in the conservative party, it is a conservative leadership contest, the rest of parliament are away for a week and they will be back and parliament continues until the end of july. back and parliament continues until the end ofjuly. so they will be looking to have their say and make

sure the will of the house is known about. thank you both very much. ben. i'm joined now by conservative mp huw merriman. you're a may loyalist, who disappointed are you that the prime minister's decided to step down? i'm really disappointed for her. i think it will be hard for even the harshest person not to have sympathy for the situation she is put in and the emotion she displayed today. she showed how much she loves the this country and how disappointed she is. i'm disappointed for her. we have talked to a lot of people, who say she got her tactics wrong on brexit and she was too hard line, too many

red lines, if she had opted to compromise earlier, she could have got a deal through? i don't go with that. her dealwas got a deal through? i don't go with that. her deal was a classic compromise. it was something that gave position to people that wanted us to leave the eu, because we were legally leaving, but with a two—year time span to leave on settled terms. for our future relationship deep with the eu. it was a classic compromise, that was needed after a referendum that was 52/48. compromise is a positive thing. parliamentarians don't seem to have any experience of life outside in commerce or in any organisations, where those of us who had had the experience have compromised to get things done. mps are just not very realistic sometimes. let's talk about how mps might vote in the leadership contest. we gather there

are maybe 18 or so contenders, it is are maybe 18 or so contenders, it is a wide field, but it could narrow down to two, well it with be two candidates, people say there will be ano candidates, people say there will be a no deal candidate, who is prepared to leave without a deal and somebody perhaps like michael gove, who wants a deal? i think it is probably more likely, but i think it sad, because it probably demonstrates that the conservative party is just obsessed with brexit and nothing else. but we will get one of two candidates who isa will get one of two candidates who is a leaver and a determined leaver, whether that means a no dealer, i don't know. i don't see how no deal will get through parliament. but they be offering something. and somebody who is more from the mainstream. but again they will be labelled with the continuing, continuation candidate profile. so i think it is likely there will be that choice for our members and of

course our membership may lean towards someone that is more of a brexiteer than something who is more pragmatic. thank you. speaking at the swiss economic forum ea rleir today — borisjohnson confirmed he was going to stand. i will keep what i said completely unprompted at a recent meeting of association brokers where i was asked that question. of course i'm going go for it. if you will forgive me, ido going go for it. if you will forgive me, i do not wish to elaborate now on what we are going to do. but believe me, you will be hearing more about that than you necessarily want to hear! that was boris johnson speaking.

the german chancellor, angela merkel, sayd her government will work to maintain strong ties with britain, whatever happens in the future. translation: of course i respect this decision, i always worked well with the british prime minister, theresa may, regardless of what happens now in britain, the german government will do everything to achieve a good partnership and orderly exit and good co—operation andi orderly exit and good co—operation and i hope that will remain the case in the future. let's go now to conservative mp tobias ellwood. what is your view first of all on theresa may's departure statement that we heard this morning? an emotional statement at the end of it at least? it was a very dignified and emotional statement. a huge tribute to her for the work she's

donein tribute to her for the work she's done in her entire life and committed civil servant. in her time as prime minister, and also as secretary in the home office, she has moved this country forward. we are safer, we have record employment and huge investments in the nhs, we are the greenest country in the g20. but we know as the results of local elections show and the mep elections yesterday will prove, the issue of brexit has dominated her tenure as it had with her predecessors, the word you will take from the speech, compromise, the next leader will recognise that is a word that they will come to terms with quickly, because the parliamentary maths don't change and brexit still needs to be solved, up to 31st october and

it will require compromise. well, will it require compromise? you could get a leader of your party who is prepared to leave the eu with no deal and is prepared to leave the eu with no dealand in is prepared to leave the eu with no deal and in other words without a compromise and without any deal with the eu. if that is their manifesto, i will not be supporting them. that is not the spirit of the referendum. it was to have a working partnership with europe, it wasn't the spirit of our manifesto either. i do hope when we have this contest now a new leader is an opportunity to renew and reenergise not just leader is an opportunity to renew and reenergise notjust with our party, but beyond our party base. this entire debate needs to be more than about brexit. if all we do is talk of brexit and pivot to no deal, we won't move in the poll and will hand the keys of no ten tojeremy corbyn. but that is the reality, whether you like it or not. it will

be about brexit and what the mps think about brexit and when they select the final two and when those final two are considered by the conservative membership, that will be about a brexit as well. you know 2345 -- be about a brexit as well. you know 2345 —— you know that. if boris johnson is on the ballot paper he will win. we have known that she will win. we have known that she will step back, she has made that clear and we now blur our renewal and the selection of a new leader with this issue and the fact we have not landed a brexit outcome and many parliamentarians, myself and other, yes, we want to have a brexit conclusion, but we want a post—brexit vision and want to push britain back on to the international stage, re—engage with the international community and look at theissues international community and look at the issues which the nation wants us to focus on. if we all we do is talk

about brexit, all we are doing is handing the keys of no ten to jshg jeremy corbyn and that can't be in anybody‘s interest. jeremy corbyn and that can't be in anybody's interest. it is fair to say theresa may will go down as the brexit prime minister who failed to achieve brexit. will she be remembered as a fail yaur. —— failure. there will be a lot of analysis. there is a lot of soul—searching to be done. the withdrawal agreement almost got through with a brady amendment that, showed it was possible to do. part one of the agreement probably won't change, no matter what deal you want, the big issue, the concern that all parliamentarians had, is what is the future relationship with the eu itself? and that is still to be debated. thank you very much.

earlier i spoke to ian dunt, editor of politics.co.uk and dia chakravarty, brexit editor of the daily telegraph. there is no way that you can resist any kind of sympathy. she basically brea ks any kind of sympathy. she basically breaks down and one has the capacity for empathy. in terms of an assessment, she got given a very bad hand. but she played it badly. her speech was about moderation and bringing people together, there was none of that in her time and she ignored remain and brag mattick options —— pragmatic options, so you do feel it was of her own making. the erg set up a party within a party, no prime minister can survive that brutal division. you might argue that one of the tasks she would have had as a prime minister and a leader is to bring the party together. and it is interesting to

hear iain's opinion that she isolated herself from the remain voters, if you ask the brexiteers, they will say she isolated herself too. that is the problem with theresa may's approach, she tried to get both sides together, but neither side thought she was on their side. that is key in terms of who can move forward , that is key in terms of who can move forward, can anyone bring the two sides together. jeremy hunt has declared he will stand. is he the man that could do that? he is a weird one, he voted remain and he had made some no deal, very tough brexit statements, you get the feeling he doesn't care about brexit, like many others. that may not be such a bad thing. it may mean although he is not anyone's first choice, he could be sufficient number of people's second choice. i

guess that they will want a brexiteer and that is reducing your options to michael like michael gove and boris johnson. can boris johnson be stopped? a lot of his colleagues are trying to stop him. you hear of all sort of candidates being put forward. who are you learing of? jeremy hunt, but he has his own interests. a lot of other candidates li interests. a lot of other candidates u sajid interests. a lot of other candidates li sajid javid. the other thing we can sure about is if boris reached the top two, you get the top two chosen by mps to the grass roots, that it how it works with the conservative party, it is certain that he would go through, because he has massive support within the grass roots. but it is a big if, are his

colleagues going to allow him to reach the two two. when you look at candidates like jeremy hunt reach the two two. when you look at candidates likejeremy hunt who have played to a pro—brexit tory membership, would somebody like that in the moderate part of party, cut it with tory members. it dependses on how good their memories are. they will look at his whole record and whether he can do enough to convince them by taking somebody on his team who is a solid brexiteer remains to be seen. but that is something that the remainor turned brexiteers are trying to do, get some solid brexiteers on side to stamp on their brexiteers on side to stamp on their brexiteer credentials. is it clear how much support borisjohnson has? he has been criticised in office as foreign secretary, is he seen as the right calibre for the top job?

calibre is a weird word to use, because that suggests there is some seriousness about him. that is not there. and anyone who i speak to, almost everyone is of the same opinion — he has no interest except self—interest. opinion — he has no interest except self-interest. a longer campaign, people say, mitigates against the brexiteers, but that is not likely? no, it will be a brexiteer there, they will have to say to that party, i will deliver on brexit. where that leaves them is where theresa may got — brexit itself is the problem. she wa nts to — brexit itself is the problem. she wants to sit with a deal, the only deal that the eu would accept and as soon as deal that the eu would accept and as soon as the reality of brexit is written down, your own side falls apart. so they will face the same problem and we will be back here in probably a few short months, deal with an almost identical situation. we still have some warmth left in

the day. temperatures holding up into the low 20s in south—east england. tonight, rain will clear from scotland and we will be left with dry weather for a time. a from scotland and we will be left with dry weatherfor a time. a mild night at between six and 12 celsius. by night at between six and 12 celsius. by the end of the night cloud will thick non—northern ireland and some rain here to start the day on saturday. that damp weather will spread to the west of scotland. further south and east, a dry and bright start with sunshine. some cloud in the afternoon. but across the south we will see the day's high east temperatures. things turning cooler in scotland and the north—west of england. through the rest of the weekend; cloudy with rain at times in the north and west and turning cooler as well. that is your weather.

today at five, it's over. in two weeks' time, theresa may will resign as leader of the conservative party. in a statement delivered outside number 10 mrs may said she would remain in downing street until a new leader is elected injuly. it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that i have not been able to deliver brexit. it will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum. her voice cracking with emotion, as she said she left with no ill will and enormous gratitude. i will shortly leave the job that it has been the honour of my life to hold.