Theresa May at a teamaking ceremony with the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, right. The PM said she had a purpose beyond delivering Brexit

Theresa May has vowed to remain in No 10 for five years and fight the next election as Conservative Party leader, saying: “I am not a quitter.”

The prime minister, who told Tory MPs that she would serve only as long as they wanted her after the party’s election humiliation, said that she had no intention of leaving Downing Street. “I’m in this for the long term because there’s a long-term challenge for the United Kingdom,” she said yesterday during a visit to Japan. Asked if she wanted to fight the next election, Mrs May said: “Yes.”

In another interview she dismissed as baseless a report that she would stand down in August 2019 after the conclusion of Brexit negotiations. “There’s been an awful lot