Prime Minister Theresa May’s foreign minister and Brexit negotiator quit July 9 in protest at her plans to keep close trade ties with the European Union after Britain leaves the bloc, stirring rebellion in her party’s ranks.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, the face of Brexit for many, resigned just hours after Brexit minister David Davis, emboldening some in May’s Conservative Party to mull a plot to unseat her less than nine months before Britain exits in March.
The resignations have deepened distrust among many euroskeptics in her party, undermining her position and casting doubt on the Brexit process.
“Brexit should be about opportunity and hope,” Johnson said in a resignation letter. “That dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt.”
Despite the resignations, euroskeptics and loyalists said the prime minister had stood her ground and appeared to have kept her job, at least for now, as the U.K. heads into the next stage of negotiations with Brussels. (Reuters)