British Prime Minister Theresa May has confirmed today in a statement in Downing Street that she will resign as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7.
The process to select a new leader will begin in the following week.
May will stay in office until a successor is found. Thus, she will be the prime minister that welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump on June 3.
The process of selecting May’s replacement will now begin with Conservative lawmaker and former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson heavily tipped as her probable successor. Former Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom is seen as a likely contender. Foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt and home secretary Sajid Javid are likely to put themselves forward, too, the New York Times reported.
May said she had done her best to deliver Brexit. "I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal," she said. "Sadly I have not been able to do so."
Her deal was rejected three times by Parliament. Efforts to find a compromise with the opposition Labour Party also failed.
The senior research fellow at the European Research Centre of the International Relations Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Olenchenko, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that May's fiasco is associated with the collapse of her main idea - Brexit. "Approaches to this idea have undergone major changes in big British business. Apparently, there will be a second referendum, and now it’s clear that the idea of leaving the European Union will be rejected at the second referendum. At the same time, May will be hold responsible for the fact that the first option did not take place. In my opinion, the UK should have changed Brexit plans a year ago," he said in the first place.
"The problems with Brexit overlapped with the fact that she did not have the unanimous support of the conservative party. The crisis has begun within the party, the conservatives have a serious split, which the Labor is trying to use. In such circumstances, Theresa May simply could not hold down the office. And I don’t even mention the economic difficulties of the UK," the political scientist added.
"Due to the change of power, the relations with Russia will go into the shadow of Britain for some time. "Britain now has several ways: holding early parliamentary elections, or holding a referendum, with elections or separately. In both cases, the UK will be absorbed in internal affairs and clarifying relations with the EU," Vladimir Olenchenko pointed out.
Director of the Institute of Strategic Planning and Forecasting, Professor Alexander Gusev drew attention to the fact that this decision was expected. "May’s resignation was predicted because the situation in the British Isles was gradually getting out of control since the Brexit referendum in 2016, and so far the opposition between the Prime Minister and Parliament has reached its peak,” he recalled.
Predicting the further development, the expert suggested that politicians following a more restrained course regarding Britain’s exit from the EU would replace May, as Brexit’s losses are estimated at 66-76 billion euros. "In addition, about 2.5 million refugees legally and illegally entered Britain in the past four years. This also adversely affected the British budget," the expert continued.
At the same time, according to the political scientist, Brexit is unprofitable for Britain. "Britain’s withdrawal from the EU will cost it approximately 200 billion euro. And don't forget the political losses that are very significant for Britain. Therefore, if the next Brexit referendum is held, then according to its results, Britain will remain in the EU," the analyst said.
Predicting how relations between Britain and Russia will develop after Theresa May's resignation from the post of prime minister, the analyst expressed confidence that they will remain at the same position - the position of a 'cold peace'.
