Robert Peston Robert Peston

Theresa May passes on the poisoned chalice of Brexit

It is official. Theresa May will resign as Tory party leader on 7 June and will continue as caretaker prime minister for a few short weeks.

An emotional moment, possibly for much of the nation, certainly for her: she gulped and her eyes became tearful at the close.

Her three years in office have been turbulent, totally dominated by a Brexit she has failed to deliver.

Time to pass on the chalice; and what she did not say is that the chalice is just as likely to be poisonous for her successor as it has been for her.

Given the absence of a majority for her party, there is unlikely to be any resolution of the Brexit crisis or indeed any progress on fixing Britain this side of a general election.

So hold your breath: first we’ll have a new Tory leader and PM; shortly after, weeks or months later, that new PM will almost certainly have to go to the country and seek our endorsement.

Robert Peston is ITV’s Political Editor. This article originally appeared on his ITV news blog

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