GETTY Theresa May will replace David Cameron as PM on Wednesday after Andrea Leadsom quit

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS: Andrea Leadsom quits Tory leadership race after admitting she does not have "sufficient support"

Theresa May confirmed as new Tory leader and will be named new PM on Wednesday

David Cameron to resign after PMQs on Wednesday afternoon

May says she is 'honoured and humbled' to be named new Tory leader

Tory MPs hit out at 'operation' against Leadsom

Labour and Liberal Democrats demand early general election

Jeremy Corbyn will face Labour leadership challenge from Angela Eagle

The Home Secretary will move into Number 10 after Mr Cameron completes his final Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday afternoon before visiting the Queen to formally resign and hand over to Mrs May. The news comes after Andrea Leadsom had earlier dramatically pulled out of the race to be the next Tory leader, leaving Mrs May as the sole remaining candidate. She was later confirmed as the new Conservative leader by party bosses. Speaking outside Parliament tonight, Mrs May said: "I am honoured and humbled to have been chosen by the Conservative Party to become it's leader. "I would like to pay tribute to the other candidates during the election campaign and I would like to pay tribute to Andrea Leadsom for the dignity that she has shown today. "I would also like to pay tribute to David Cameron for the leadership that he has shown our party and our country. "During this campaign my case has been based on three things. "First, the need for strong, proven leadership to steer us through what will be difficult and uncertain economic and political times. "The need of course to negotiate the best deal for Britain in leaving the EU and to forge a new role for ourselves in the world. Brexit means Brexit and we're going to make a success of it. "Second we need to unite our country. And third we need a strong, new, positive vision for the future of our country. "A vision of a country that works not for the privileged few but that works for every one of us because we're going to give people more control over their lives. "And that's how, together, we will build a better Britain."

Confiming his own exit this afternoon in a statement outside 10 Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: "I think Andrea Leadsom has made absolutely the right decision to stand aside and it's clear Theresa May has the overwhelming support of the Conservative parliamentary party. "I'm also delighted that Theresa May will be the next prime minister. She is strong, she is competent, she is more than able to provide the leadership our country is going to need in the years ahead and she will have my full support. "Obviously with these changes we now don't need a prolonged period of transition and so tomorrow I will chair my last Cabinet meeting, on Wednesday I will attend the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions and then after that I expect to go to the Palace and offer my resignation. "So we will have a new prime minister in that building behind me by Wednesday evening."

PA Theresa May is cheered by Tory MPs after being confirmed as the new Tory leader

PA David Cameron said he will resign on Wednesday afternoon

Chancellor George Osborne posted on Twitter: "Welcome news we have 1 candidate with overwhelming support to be next PM. Theresa May has strength, integrity & determination to do the job. "The economy and businesses in UK and around the world need certainty so it is in everyone's interest Theresa takes over as PM in coming days." Tory MP Graham Brady, the chair of the influential backbench 1922 Committee who run Conservative leadership election contests, later confirmed Mrs May as the party's new leader. He said: "I have received confirmation from the board of the Party and can now declare Mrs May has been elected the new leader of the Conservative Party." Mrs May then addressed the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs, who welcomed her with the traditional banging of desks, while Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin revealed Mrs May had been given a standing ovation.

Welcome news we have 1 candidate with overwhelming support to be next PM. Theresa May has strength, integrity & determination to do the job — George Osborne (@George_Osborne) July 11, 2016

Mrs Leadsom had announced she is withdrawing from the contest to become Tory leader and Britain's next prime minister after concluding she did not carry enough support from Conservative MPs. Describing a "bright future" for Britain outside of the EU following last month's Brexit vote, the energy minister said: "We now need a new prime minister in place as soon as possible, committed to fulfilling [the Conservative] manifesto as well as implementing the clear instructions from the referendum. "Theresa May carries over 60 per cent of support in the parliamentary party. "She is ideally placed to implement Brexit on the best possible terms for the British people and she has promised that she will do so. "For me personally to have won the support of 84 of my colleagues last Thursday was a great expression of confidence for which I am incredibly grateful. "Nevertheless, this is less than 25 per cent of the parliamentary party and after careful consideration I do not believe this is sufficient support to lead a strong and stable government should I win the leadership election. She added: "I have however concluded that the interests of our country are best served by the immediate appointment of a strong and well-supported prime minister. "I am therefore withdrawing from the leadership election and I wish Theresa May the very greatest success, I assure her of my full support."

Following the announcement, Mrs Leadsom's supporters hit out at the "brutal assault" on her and an "operation to demean" their candidate. Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: "I think there has been a genuine operation to demean Andrea in a way which I have to say I feel somewhat appalled by. "But notwithstanding that I think her decision has been around what she feels is best for the country." Former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson added Mrs Leadsom had "under the most brutal assault, which was miserable for her".

Justice Secretary Michael Gove, a failed leadership candidate, had immediately dismissed the suggestions he could re-enter the race to ensure Mrs May faced a ballot of Conservative Party members. He said: "Andrea Leadsom spoke with great dignity and courage today. I wish her every success in the future. "We should now move as quickly as possible to ensure Theresa May can take over as leader. She has my full support as our next prime minister."

PA Theresa May will now be named Britain's next prime minister

Speaking outside Parliament, Mrs May's campaign chair Chris Grayling, Leader of the House of Commons, said Mrs May was "enormously honoured to be entrusted with this task by so many of her parliamentary colleagues". The prime minister-in-waiting will make her own statement on her return to London from Birmingham, where she had set out her vision for her premiership less than two hours earlier. Surrounded by Mrs May's supporters, Mr Grayling said he wanted to pay a "warm tribute" to Mrs Leadsom. He said: "Her actions this morning have shown what a principled and decent politician she is and how willing she is to put the interests of the country before her own. "She is a true public servant." He went on: "As Andrea's statement made clear this morning, now is the time for us to unite as a party and to get on with the job of doing everything we can to secure a strong, prosperous and successful future for our country. "I know, we all know, Theresa will do all she can to equip our country for the challenges that lie ahead." Labour MP Jon Trickett, the party's election co-ordinator, announced he had put the opposition on a "general election footing" and demanded a snap national vote. This is despite Labour having been plunged into crisis with leader Jeremy Corbyn now certain to face a leadership challenge from Angela Eagle. Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron and Green MP Caroline Lucas echoed the call for Mrs May to soon go to the country seeking her own personal mandate from the national electorate.

PA Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, confirmed Mrs May is the only remaining candidate

I wish Theresa May the very greatest success, I assure her of my full support Andrea Leadsom

The stunning news comes after a weekend dominated by a row over Mrs Leadsom's comments in a newspaper interview. She was accused of suggesting she would make a better prime minister than Mrs May because she had children. Mrs Leadsom later apologised to Mrs May over the remarks, who this morning revealed she had accepted the apology. Mrs Leadsom has also faced claims over her CV and demands to publish her tax returns amid questions over her financial affairs. A source close to Mrs Leadsom had told the BBC the "abuse [was] too great" for the former City trader.

Theresa May's political career in pictures Tue, April 18, 2017 Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to 'build a greater Britain' Play slideshow EPA 1 of 116 Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (R) meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May in the capital Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 05 April 2017. May is visiting Saudi Arabia as part of her Middle East trip to boost diplomatic ties in the region

Mrs Leadsom's withdrawal from the contest means the Conservative Party membership will not be required to vote in order to elect one of the two candidates as the country's next leader. Mrs Leadsom and Mrs May were left as the final pairing from an original field of five candidate, following a ballot of Tory MPs. Moments before Mrs Leadsom's previously unscheduled statement was announced, Mrs May had launched her pitch to the Conservative membership. The Home Secretary vowed to "make a success" of Britain leaving the EU as she blasted those still pushing for a re-run of the EU referendum. But she said the next Government "cannot become defined exclusively by the process of our withdrawal from the EU". Mrs May spelled out her vision for "serious social reform" and a "country that truly works for everyone".

PA Mrs May's campaign chair Chris Grayling paid tribute to Mrs Leadsom