Theresa May passes on the poisoned chalice of Brexit

It is official. Theresa May will resign as Tory party leader on 7 June and will continue as caretaker prime minister for a few short weeks.

An emotional moment, possibly for much of the nation, certainly for her: she gulped and her eyes became tearful at the close.

Her three years in office have been turbulent, totally dominated by a Brexit she has failed to deliver.

Time to pass on the chalice; and what she did not say is that the chalice is just as likely to be poisonous for her successor as it has been for her.

Given the absence of a majority for her party, there is unlikely to be any resolution of the Brexit crisis or indeed any progress on fixing Britain this side of a general election.

So hold your breath: first we’ll have a new Tory leader and PM; shortly after, weeks or months later, that new PM will almost certainly have to go to the country and seek our endorsement.