As Theresa May gathered her inner circle at No 10 around her, they will have had one word on their minds: When?

That the Prime Minister is stepping down – and soon – has been known since her showdown with Tory backbench chiefs a fortnight ago.

But while her closest aides and most loyal ministers have one by one accepted that means her Brexit deal can never pass while she is in charge, the PM continued to believe it is her duty to deliver it.

Tonight, with her Cabinet in open revolt over her planned Brexit bill and Andrea Leadsom deciding enough was enough and quitting, it must finally have dawned on Mrs May that her time was up.

All she can now do is decide the manner of her departure.

She has two options: go now saying she has tried her best in an impossible situation but somebody else now needs to have a go, or be forced from power after the Tory party changes its rules to oust her.

Some Tory MPs believe she will choose to go gracefully and be a lightening rod for terrible European election results, which will come out overnight on Sunday, soaking up some of the blame.

Others think the PM will try to tough it out and that she hasn’t given up yet on putting her bill before MPs. But without her Commons leader and with a Cabinet in munity over tabling the legislation at all, that path only brings more humiliation.

Her top team, including chief-of-staff Gavin Barwell according to sources, know that she’s reached the end of the road and that her withdrawal bill is dead.

It’s only two days since Mrs May said “it’s a great time to be alive”. The question is whether she’ll be persuaded that she’d enjoy life a lot more if she chose to go now, before recess, or desperately hang on with only more misery ahead.

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