LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May dug in Wednesday against a relentless push by rivals and former allies to remove her from office as her attempts to lead Britain out of the European Union appeared to be headed for a dead end.
May resisted calls to rip up her tattered Brexit blueprint and end her embattled premiership after her attempt at compromise was rejected by both her own Conservative Party and opposition lawmakers.
But it seemed only a matter of time.
Amid a feverish mood as rumors and plots swirled through Parliament, Conservative lawmakers set up a showdown meeting with May for Friday, giving her less than 48 hours to announce she will go or face a renewed attempt to oust her.
And a senior Cabinet minister quit with an excoriating letter attacking May’s failure to lead Britain out of the EU and hold her divided government together.
Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom alleged there had been “a complete breakdown of collective responsibility” in government, and said May’s Brexit plan would not “deliver on the referendum result” that saw voters in 2016 opt to leave the EU.
Leadsom campaigned to leave the EU in the referendum and was a strong pro-Brexit voice in Cabinet.
Several other senior ministers were reportedly seeking meetings with May to express unhappiness with her Brexit plan — and possibly urge her to quit. But her spokesman, James Slack, said he was “not aware of any discussions” with Cabinet colleagues.
Lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, a leading Conservative moderate, said the only chance of delivering an orderly Brexit was for May “to go — and without delay.”
“She must announce her resignation after Thursday’s European elections. And the Conservative Party must fast track the leadership process to replace her,” he wrote in the Financial Times.
In the House of Commons, May received a flurry of criticism and hostile questions as she implored lawmakers to support a bill implementing Britain’s departure from the EU that she plans to put to a vote in Parliament in June.
May insisted she would fight on. She said the Brexit withdrawal bill would be published Friday so that lawmakers can study it.
