The Prime Minister will quit her job in the summer just weeks after Brexit according to members of her inner circle.
The Conservative leader will call the leadership contest shortly after leaving the European Union, The Sun reports, but remains hopeful she can pick her replacement to prevent a successful Boris Johnson bid.
According to Cabinet ministers the Prime Minister has hinted to them personally she will trigger a Tory leadership race to end at the party’s annual conference in October.
But she will announce it after Brexit, to give her time to pick and prep a replacement.
A source close to Liam Fox, May’s good friend, told The Sun the current International Trade Secretary believes she will go after the deadline on March 29.
A senior Tory source told The Sun: ‘Liam is convinced she’ll go this summer. He says everything the PM has told him suggests that.
‘She’s determined to ensure the right person follows her, and she’ll have no say at all if it gets to the stage of forcing her out.’
According to some in the Tory party Mrs May wants to leave when she has regained strength after the exit date.
However, she will take a keen interest in the person replacing her.
It is believed she will attempt to keep out those who have harmed her premiership, such as Boris Johnson.
Mr Johnson indicated he would be willing to accept a time limit on the backstop as his price for backing Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal Agreement.
‘The argument is now about how to get out of the backstop. And how to make sure that the UK isn’t locked in that prison of the customs union,’ he said.
‘I think that you would need to have a time limit.’
Business Secretary Greg Clark has apparently also indicated to friends she will go this year.
However, this week BoJo softened on his stance which has been critical of the cabinet and their leader.
Former foreign secretary Johnson has insisted the so called backstop agreement with the European Union having a time limit on it would see him back May’s deal.
However, his demand remains that the agreement would need to expire before the next general election in 2022.
A No Deal Brexit would cost 100,000 jobs in Germany, experts predict.
The academic study says British imports from the EU could plunge by 25 per cent if the UK leaves without a deal next month.
Concern about the impact of a No Deal Brexit has put mounting pressure on Angela Merkel to help broker concessions that will enable Theresa May to get the agreement through Parliament.
Brexiteer Andrea Leadsom dismissed the prospect of Mrs May adopting Jeremy Corbyn’s ‘world view’, and insisted: ‘I’m staying in Cabinet to help the Prime Minister deliver Brexit.’
Asked in an interview with the Press Association if she would resign if the PM adopted Labour’s proposals for a customs union with the EU after Brexit, the Commons Leader said: ‘I’ve read the Prime Minister’s letter and I don’t think she’s softening her stance at all.
‘I think she’s making quite clear that what Corbyn is demanding is actually not as good as what the Prime Minister’s deal is offering.
Last week, the German chancellor urged EU leaders to ‘be creative’, saying ‘everybody is willing’ to help find a solution.
The UK is due to leave the EU with or without a deal, unless the Article 50 process is extended with approval from the bloc’s leaders, or revoked to cancel Brexit altogether.