Theresa May Offers To Stand Down If Her Brexit Deal Is Approved

27 March 2019, 17:38 | Updated: 27 March 2019, 18:12

Theresa May has told Conservative MPs she will stand down once her Brexit deal is delivered.

The Prime Minister told a meeting of the 1922 Committee in Westminster that "she would not remain in post for the next phase of the negotiations".

She met with Tory backbenchers in a bid to gain support for her deal which could face a third vote later this week.

"I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won’t stand in the way of that," Mrs May told MPs.

"I know some people are worried that if you vote for the Withdrawal Agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have. I won’t – I hear what you are saying.

"I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party."

The Prime Minister’s former aide and LBC presenter Tom Swarbrick told Eddie Mair it would have been a difficult decision.

“The Conservative Party runs in her blood,” he said.

“To become Prime Minister at a time of such national change was the culmination of a lifetimes work for her.

“To have to say goodbye to it and on the basis that the right thing is done for the country, speaks to her sense of duty.”

Meanwhile, John Bercow has issued a fresh warning that substantial changes are required to allow a third meaningful vote on Theresa May's Brexit deal.

The Commons Speaker insisted the Government must "meet the test of change" having previously ruled that another meaningful vote would not be accepted for consideration without substantial changes, which he indicated should include a negotiated change with the EU.

MPs will vote of eight Brexit alternatives later tonight.