Theresa May has announced she will step down as Prime Minister on Friday, June 7.
In a statement outside Downing Street she said she would stay in office until a new leader was found.
The resignation announcement comes after she met with the chairman of the 1922 Conservatives backbenchers' committee, Sir Graham Brady .
The news now triggers a leadership race to see who takes over as head of the party and as Prime Minister.
Her premiership has been dominated by tortuous negotiations in Brussels and vicious infighting within Tory ranks over the terms on which the UK would leave.
The Maidstone MP took over from David Cameron in 2016 after he stepped down following the EU referendum.
On entering office she was tasked with bringing together party and country after the traumas of the EU referendum.
She will be leaving with her party fractured and the country still divided over Europe.
Several potential candidates have already set out their stalls in previous weeks as Mrs May's tenure hung by a thread.
So far around 10 MPs have stated they intend to run for Prime Minister, they are: Matt Hancock, Esther McVey, Sajid Javid, Boris Johnson, Amber Rudd, Rory Stewart, Andrea Leadsom, Jeremy Hunt, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss.
