UPDATE - Theresa May announces resignation as UK prime minister

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she will step down from the top government office and as leader of the Conservative Party on June 7.

May’s announcement came this morning after meeting the chair of her party’s 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.

“Back in 2016, we gave the British people a choice, against all predictions the British people voted to leave the European Union,” she said in an emotional statement at Downing Street.

“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. I have done my best to do that... I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal,” she added.

“Sadly I have not been able to do so. I tried three times. I believe it was right to persevere even when the odds against success seemed high but it is now clear to me that it is in the best interests of the country for a new prime minister to lead that effort,” she said.

"So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday, June 7 so that a successor can be chosen."

She said she has not been able to deliver Brexit and “it is and will always remain a matter of deep regret for me.”

May said: “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.

“I will shortly leave the job that has been the honor of my life.

“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 had become the Tory leader and prime minister after the departure of David Cameron in 2016 following British voters’ decision to leave the EU in a referendum.

She has negotiated with the EU leaders a withdrawal agreement but failed to pass it through the House of Commons repeatedly, failing to impress her own MPs to support it.

May was under great pressure to resign for the past four months as she failed to gather majority support for her Brexit deal.

The contest for Conservative Party leadership will begin on June 10.