British Prime Minister Theresa May will today step down as leader of her Conservative Party, formally triggering the race for a successor.
May will formally relinquish her leadership in a private letter to her party on Friday, but no official events are planned to mark the day.
May will remain prime minister until a new leader is chosen.
The indications are that this is expected to happen in late July, but has relinquished control over the direction of Britain’s tortuous departure from the European Union.
Brexit is still scheduled for October 31 but while her rivals thrash it out, the project remains stuck, with the only divorce plan agreed with Brussels stuck in parliament.
May took office after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU and has spent the past three years working on the plan, delaying Brexit twice to try to get it through.
But last month she finally acknowledged defeat after months of political turmoil that has slowly sapped all her authority.
Eleven Conservative MPs are currently vying to replace her, including former foreign minister Boris Johnson, but some are expected to drop out before Monday’s deadline for nominations.
Nominations for the contest must be submitted on Monday, and the 313 Conservative MPs – including May – will hold the first of a series of secret ballots on June 13.
With the worst performers eliminated each time, the goal is to have two candidates left by June 20. They will then be put to a ballot of an estimated 100,000 party members.
The contest should be completed by the week commencing July 22.
Via BBC
