Iain Martin makes the case for a new prime minister:

Whoever it is and whatever the mechanism, be it a short leadership contest in September or a cabinet-imposed choice with parliamentary approval, the elders of the Tory tribe need to get on with it. To that end, Mrs May should do her party one last favour by indicating soon that her duty is done and that she will step down on the first day of the Conservative Party conference on October 1.

The British are noted constitutional innovators. But even by our standards, attempting the most complex negotiations for more than 70 years without a functioning prime minister seems a step too far. The Tory party needs to find a new leader and soon.

Martin makes a solid case that May isn’t up to the job of successfully negotiating British exit from the EU, and since everyone understands that May is finished politically the Conservatives should replace her sooner rather than later. The next Tory leader may or may not be an improvement, but after the election debacle there really is no excuse for May to stay on any longer in her current position. If the U.K. is to get the best deal it can from the EU, it can’t be led by someone who doesn’t have the confidence of party and country. May should have resigned right away after the election, but she still has the chance to help her party recover from the mess that she made during her brief tenure by leaving soon.