LAST UPDATE | 24 May 2019

UK PRIME MINISTER Theresa May is expected to announce the date of her departure from Downing Street this morning, jump starting the Conservative Party leadership contest.

May is expected to outline a timeline for the leadership race with the BBC reporting that 10 June will likely be the official start date.

The development is widely reported in British news outlets this morning however May’s office has not publicly confirmed the move.

The pressure on the prime minister ratcheted up another notch this morning as MP Helen Grant resigned as the Conservative Vice Chair for Communities saying it’s “time for new leadership”.

May had planned to publish her Withdrawal Agreement Bill today, describing it as MPs “last chance” to deliver Brexit. However that was strongly rebuffed by Tory MPs and Labour said it would not support the bill.

May’s premiership has lurched from one crisis to the next since her disastrous decision to call a snap general election in 2017.

Andrea Leadsom quitting as Commons leader on Wednesday provided the latest sign that May’s time in 10 Downing Street were running out.

Current Conservative Party rules dictate that May cannot face a vote of no confidence within 12 months of the last one, which was in December 2018.

However on Wednesday members of the party’s backbench 1922 Committee held a secret ballot on whether to change party rules to allow May to face another confidence vote immediately.

Poling indicates that former foreign secretary Boris Johnson is the strong front-runner to succeed May with former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab coming in second.