Theresa May breaks down in tears as she announces plan to resign as UK Prime Minister

In her statement, delivered just after 10 a.m. outside Number 10 Downing Street, May confirmed she will stay on as prime minister until a new leader is in place.

She said, “I 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.”

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“I have done my best to do that,” she said. “I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so.” She later added: “It is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me that I have not been able to deliver Brexit.”

According to her, “It will be for my successor to seek a way forward that honours the result of the referendum.”

Ending her speech, May’s emotions finally cracked. “I will shortly leave the job that it has been the honor of my life to hold,” she said. “The second female prime minister, but certainly not the last.”

And then, with her voice shaking as she came close to crying, Britain’s prime minister concluded: “I do so with no ill will, but with enormous and enduring gratitude to have had the opportunity to serve the country I love.”