A tearful Theresa May announced she was quitting the job it had been the “honour of my life to hold” as she set out the timetable for her exit from Number 10.

The Prime Minister said she will resign as Tory leader on June 7, paving the way for the potentially brutal contest to replace her to begin the following week.

In an emotional statement in Downing Street, with husband Philip and her closest aides watching on, Mrs May said it was in the “best interests of the country” for a new prime minister to lead efforts to deliver Brexit.

"So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday 7th June so that a successor can be chosen," she said.

Mrs May said the "unique privilege" of being PM is to use the platform to give a "voice to the voiceless" and to fight the "burning injustices that still scar our society".

She listed her work on mental health care, domestic abuse, the race disparity audit, gender pay reporting, and the Grenfell Tower inquiry.

Ending her speech, Mrs May said: "I will shortly leave the job that has been the honour of my life to hold.

"The second female Prime Minister, but certainly not the last."

Speaking to the Echo, South Dorset MP Richard Drax, said: “I am not surprised. It has been quite a long time coming. I am very sad it has come to this.

“Regrettably, in my view, Brexit was simply not delivered. I am afraid her version of Brexit was not Brexit at all.

“I hope that the new leader, whoever he or she is, now delivers on the vote taken in June 2016.”

Mr Drax has not indicated who he will be supporting in the coming leadership election.

He said: “We need a leader, not a manager. Mrs May sadly was not a leader.

“We need someone to sprinkle some fairy dust right across the country.”

West Dorset MP Sir Oliver Letwin has said he does not wish to comment at this stage.

As Mrs May's premiership draws to a close, the timetable for the Conservative Party contest to replace her will be set out.

Her time as prime minister has seen her party's standing in the opinion polls both soar and slump, while her own approval ratings have been on a roller coaster ride.

More follows.