The latest drama in British politics included the harrowing sight of the prime minister breaking down in tears outside Number Ten Downing Street.

She told reporters she bitterly regretted not being able to deliver Brexit and negotiate the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.

Theresa May’s resignation was followed by a shocking outcome from the elections to the European Parliament, which showed an overwhelming swell of support for the anti-establishment Brexit Party.

Its leader, the iconoclast Nigel Farage, has channeled the frustration that many voters in the UK feel that the Brexit they voted for in a 2016 referendum has still not been delivered.

Mr Farage has said his party deserves to be included in the negotiations in Brussels and he has said he would like to “help the British government out.”

This will only further the anxiety within the governing Conservative party, which ended up in a humiliating fifth place in the European poll.

The Daily Mail newspaper, which traditionally supports the Conservatives, points out that if the European election results were repeated in a general election, the Conservatives would lose every single one of their MPs and Farage would become the British Prime Minister – with a thumping majority.

As a result, the Conservatives are hoping that whoever they pick as their leader to replace Theresa May next month will be able to muster similar public appeal to Farage.