WATCH: Theresa May vows to stay on as MP after she stands down as Prime Minister
2 min read
Theresa May has vowed to stay on as an MP after she resigns as Prime Minister next month.
Mrs May is due to stand down in late July, once a successor has been chosen by Conservative Party members.
The Prime Minister announced her plans to quit last month following intense pressure from colleagues opposed to her Brexit strategy.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour’s Barry Sheerman said she should avoid “cutting and running” and instead “give some of the people that will take over after her a bit of the medicine they've given her”.
The Prime Minister replied: "I will indeed be staying in the chamber of the House of Commons, because I will continue as the Member of Parliament for my constituency.
"But can I also say that I am a woman of my word. I gave my word to my party as to what I would do and I stand by that word.
"But I am also very tempted to say to the honourable gentleman that of course we might not be in this position, he says he doesn't want to be in this position, we wouldn't be in this positon if he had voted for the [Brexit] deal."
The pledge puts her at odds with David Cameron, who quit his seat less than three months after resigning as PM over his failure to secure a Remain vote at the 2016 EU referendum.
There are currently ten candidates in the race for the top job, with a series of votes among MPs to take place before the final two are put to a vote of card-carrying Tories.
The current frontrunner, Boris Johnson, promised to take the UK out of the EU on 31 October "deal or no deal", as he launched his campaign in London this morning.
Cabinet ministers Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Rory Stewart, Matt Hancock are also in the running, alongside Andrea Leadsom, Dominic Raab, Esther McVey and Mark Harper.
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