Theresa May has promised she will quit as prime minister once her Brexit deal is voted through.

Mrs May made the promise in an address to Conservative MPs in parliament.

Her move is a last-gasp attempt to persuade her own party to back her EU withdrawal agreement, which has already been twice heavily defeated in the House of Commons.

Mrs May told a gathering of the Tories' 1922 committee: "I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party."

"I ask everyone in this room to back the deal so we can complete our historic duty - to deliver on the decision of the British people and leave the European Union with a smooth and orderly exit."


On his way out of parliament's committee room 14, the prime minister's former policy adviser George Freeman said he had never seen a 1922 meeting "so silenced".

He revealed there were "a series of speeches", from those who had previously opposed the prime minister's Brexit deal, to announce they will now be voting in favour of her agreement.

Image: Theresa May was said to have acknowledged 'some mistakes'

Mr Freeman said the number of MPs reversing their positions was more than a dozen and that MPs were "still turning" as the meeting continued.

He said Mrs May told MPs: "If this party cannot agree and come together to deliver the withdrawal mandate from the referendum, it risks letting Jeremy Corbyn into power."

"She believes her duty is to deliver withdrawal and leave this party in a state that it can then go on and take the fight to Jeremy Corbyn," Mr Freeman added.

Mrs May offered no specific timetable for her departure, but Mr Freeman said it was "clear" the prime minister would go once the withdrawal agreement is "secured".

One Tory MP said Mrs May gave a sense she will be stepping down "reasonably soon" and she acknowledged to those in the meeting that she had made "some mistakes".

A former minister who attended the meeting said Mrs May's words indicated she would be gone from Number 10 in the autumn, with a two or three-month Tory leadership contest to be held over the summer.

On the chances of the prime minister's Brexit deal now being approved by MPs, they added: "It's quite close at the moment."

If the prime minister's deal still doesn't pass through the Commons, Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said Mrs May would have "every right to carry on".

Rees-Mogg drops a public school burn

An ally of the PM said Mrs May, in return for her resignation, was asking every Tory MP "to back the deal so we can deliver Brexit".

After the 1922 meeting, the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory eurosceptics held their own gathering in parliament where Boris Johnson announced he was now backing the prime minister's withdrawal agreement.

Mr Johnson has been a fierce critic of Mrs May's deal but Conservative MP Conor Burns revealed the former foreign secretary told the ERG there was now a "palpable risk of losing Brexit altogether".

The prime minister had faced growing calls to reveal when she would resign, with some Brexiteers unwilling to see her lead the next phase of Brexit negotiations.

This will see the UK thrash out a future trade relationship with the EU.

During her address, the prime minister said: "I know there is a desire for a new approach - and new leadership - in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations - and I won't stand in the way of that."

Many Tory MPs were concerned Mrs May would seek close ties with the EU, which would hamper the UK's ability to sign independent trade deals or diverge from the bloc on regulations.

The prime minister has now decided the price for her withdrawal agreement passing, meaning the UK can exit the EU with a divorce deal, is her premiership.

She had previously told Tory MPs she would not lead them into the 2022 general election, which helped secure her survival during a confidence vote last December.

At the weekend, Mrs May had gathered both ministers and senior Conservative MPs at her Chequers country retreat for crisis talks, amid speculation her cabinet was plotting to oust her.

This was followed by a reported one-on-one meeting between the prime minister and 1922 committee chair Sir Graham Brady.

Image: Michael Gove is seen as a frontrunner in the race to replace May

He was said to have told Mrs May the majority of Tory MPs wanted her gone before the summer.

Mrs May's announcement will now turbocharge the contest between cabinet ministers and prominent MPs to become her replacement.

Vote Leave figureheads Michael Gove and Mr Johnson are among the current bookies' favourites to become the next prime minister.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Home Secretary Sajid Javid and former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab are also tipped for Number 10.

On the forthcoming Tory leadership contest, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "The great joy of the Tory party is it has so many talented people in it.

"It's like finding a fast bowler in Yorkshire. You just call and one appears.

"Let's leave this as the prime minister's day and come on to who the runners and riders will be later."

Despite not revealing who he would back for the leadership, Mr Rees-Mogg described Mr Johnson - who he backed for prime minister in 2016 - as a "formidably able man".

In response to the prime minister's announcement, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn renewed his demand for a general election

He said: "Theresa May's pledge to Tory MPs to stand down if they vote for her deal shows once and for all that her chaotic Brexit negotiations have been about party management, not principles or the public interest.

"A change of government can't be a Tory stitch-up, the people must decide."