May clings on as Leadsom quits over Brexit plan
Prime Minister Theresa May barricaded herself behind the door of 10 Downing Street as the calls from ministers to resign grew louder on Wednesday, culminating in the departure of the House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom.
A day after unveiling her revised Brexit plan, May found herself clinging to power and losing the very minister who would introduce the Withdrawal Agreement to parliament.
At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, May received little support from the backbenches as she crossed swords with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Brexit wasn't mentioned in the exchanges, but the usually noisy chamber, famous for its adversarial atmosphere, was subdued and not filled to capacity - a sign of her eroded authority. Leadsom was also notably absent in the early part of the weekly session where the prime minister takes questions from across the Commons.
By the late afternoon rumours were circulating that May would resign imminently, as Home Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt reportedly both demanded meetings and both were ignored.
In her resignation letter, Leadsom said May's current plan would not deliver on the 2016 referendum result to leave the European Union.
"I do not believe that we will be a truly sovereign United Kingdom through the deal that is now proposed," she wrote, adding that a second referendum, as offered by May in her new deal, would be "dangerously divisive".
The hard-right pro-Brexit Leadsom was criticised for quitting on the eve of polling day in the European elections, but said she could not "fulfil my duty as leader of the house tomorrow, to announce a bill with new elements that I fundamentally oppose".