THERESA May has told her MPs that she will quit if they back her deal.

Addressing the 1922 committee of backbench Tories, the Prime Minister said she will leave Number 10 ahead of the next phase of Brexit negotiations.

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The beleaguered Tory leader will hope the promise to go sooner rather than later will get more Brexiteer MPs on board for her deal.

May told her backbecnhers: "I don’t tour the bars and engage in the gossip – but I do make time to speak to colleagues, and I have a great team in the Whips’ Office. I also have two excellent PPSs.

"And I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won’t stand in the way of that.

"I know some people are worried that if you vote for the withdrawal agreement, I will take that as a mandate to rush on into phase two without the debate we need to have. I won’t – I hear what you are saying.

"But we need to get the deal through and deliver Brexit ...

"I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.

"I ask everyone in this room to back the deal so we can complete our historic duty – to deliver on the decision of the British people and leave the European Union with a smooth and orderly exit."

There has been growing pressure on May to resign.

In December, a third of her MPs voted to oust her in a motion of no confidence. She promised her party at the time that she would not lead them into the next general election.

Reacting to the news, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "If Brexit ends up being forced through on the basis of a deal no one supports - indeed a deal so bad that the PM has to promise to resign to get it through – it will make an already bad project even worse."

Tory MP Simon Hart described the mood in the 1922 meeting as "respectful".

He said: "She was passionate about getting the deal through, passionate about keeping the party together and passionate about keeping the Government as the Government, passionate about keeping Jeremy Corbyn out of Number 10."

Despite the nature of the meeting, Mr Hart joked that "neither the Chief Whip nor the PM were crying".

There was applause and more banging of tables as the PM left the meeting.