Theresa May to step down as UK's prime minister on June 7

An emotional prime minister announced her departure after talks with Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee of Tory MPs, on Friday morning. The process to select a new leader will begin the following week.

May’s departure will deepen the Brexit crisis as a new leader is likely to want a more decisive split, raising the chances of a confrontation with the European Union and a potentially unpredictable snap parliamentary election

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.”

“Our politics may be under strain but there is so much that is good about this country. So much to be proud of. So much to be optimistic about,” she said outside No. 10 Downing Street.

Her voice cracked as she said: "I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor 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."

May, once a reluctant supporter of EU membership, who won the top job in the turmoil that followed the 2016 Brexit vote, steps down with her central pledges - to lead the United Kingdom out of the bloc and heal its divisions - unfulfilled.

“It is, and will always remain, a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit,” May said, adding that her successor would have to find a consensus to honour the 2016 referendum result.

The leading contenders to succeed May all want a tougher divorce deal, although the EU has said it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Treaty it sealed in November.

Sterling reversed initial gains it made on May’s resignation.

Boris Johnson, the face of the official Brexit campaign in 2016, is the favourite to succeed May. Betting markets put a 40% implied probability on Johnson winning the top job.

Others tipped by betting markets are Dominic Raab, a Brexit supporter and former Brexit secretary, with a 14% implied probability on his chances.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove, former House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt each have a 7% probability, according to betting markets.

Defence Secretary Penny Mordaunt and International Development Secretary Rory Stewart each have a 4% chance of the top job while Home Secretary (interior minister) Sajid Javid has a 3% chance.