UK Prime Minister Theresa May could be forced out over Brexit mess

The UK Prime Minister is clinging to power amid a $200 million blunder that has seen Brits voting in European elections three years after Brexit.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is tipped to quit on Friday in the face of insurmountable opposition to her Brexit deal, as Brits take to the polls in European elections three years after they voted to leave the EU.

Mrs May has been forced to cancel plans to hold a fourth vote on her Withdrawal Agreement due to a lack of support, while senior MPs are openly calling for the Prime Minister to resign.

On Wednesday, Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom stepped down, citing the “complete breakdown of collective responsibility” over her handling of the Brexit negotiations.

“There have been some uncomfortable compromises along the way, but you have had my determined support and loyalty in your efforts to deliver Brexit as our shared goal,” she wrote to the Prime Minister. “I no longer believe that our approach will deliver on the referendum result.”

The UK is still bitterly divided over how to conduct Brexit negotiations. Picture: AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth.

London MP Sir David Evennett tweeted: “Theresa May must now resign. We need a new PM a new Cabinet and a new approach to Brexit.”

Former Conservative MP Nick Boles, who also quit the party over Brexit, said: “Theresa May is going to spend tonight dreaming about what she would do if she had a dragon....”

Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: “The sofa is up against the door, she’s not leaving.”

On Thursday, Downing Street announced it would postpone a fourth vote on Mrs May’s Brexit deal, despite several amendments including allowing MPs a vote on a second referendum.

The agreement has previously failed to pass three times and six weeks of talks with the opposition Labour Party failed to find a way out of the Brexit impasse.

Mrs May will meet with MP Sir Graham Brady on Friday to set out her departure timetable, according to UK media reports. She had previously offered to step down once the deal was passed.

Meanwhile, Brits have taken to the polls for European elections despite the UK being due to leave the voting bloc. Holding the elections is thought to have cost more than £108 million ($198 million) with representatives likely to be out of a job within months. The Conservative party has declined to publish a manifesto and is on track for large losses.

Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit Party is set to be the major winner, expected to gain 37 per cent of the vote, with the objective of securing a no deal exit from the EU. The Liberal Democrats, who want to hold a second referendum on Brexit are polling in second place on 16 per cent of the vote.

Mrs May will try for a fourth time to get her EU withdrawal agreement approved, but may be forced to resign before she is able to. Picture: AFP.

On Tuesday, Mrs May said the fourth vote would be the “last chance” to deliver Brexit, saying it has “proved even harder than I anticipated” despite offering to “give up the job I love earlier than I would like”.

The Withdrawal Agreement is only the first stage in the Brexit process and the UK will still have to negotiate its future relationship with the EU.

The leadership crisis comes at a particularly awkward time, with a state visit from Donald Trump scheduled for June 3-5.

Luckily for UK politicians, the US President is said to be “delightfully oblivious” to Westminster machinations and more interested in meeting the Queen, according to reports.

If Mrs May does resign, she is likely to remain prime minister while her successor is elected in a two-stage process. MPs will whittle down the field of contenders to two, likely to include former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. A ballot of 125,000 party members will vote on the new leader.

Britain’s Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom quit her post after Mrs May offered a vote on a second referendum — something Brexiteers will not support. Picture: AFP. Daniel Leal-Olivas / AFP