Real reason David Cameron quit

Mr Cameron chose top end his six years at Downing St rather than begin the mammoth task of untangling the UK from the EU. He promised he would be gone by the Conservative Party conference in October.

Many speculated he would have to go because a Leave vote would have trashed his authority, but details have emerged Mr Cameron made the dramatic decision because he didn’t want to have to do the hard work in divorcing his country from the EU, only to have his replacement then step in and take control.

The Sun reported a teary-eyed PM told his inner-circle: “Why should I do all the hard s**t for someone else, just to hand it over to them on a plate?”

He made the extraordinary statement to his advisers, with wife Samantha present, before he spoke to the country about his decision to quit.

According to The Sun, the staff — many who had been with him since he became Conservative leader 11 years ago and followed him to Downing St — were in tears but were happy their boss had at least gone out “with dignity”.

“It was the moment it really sunk in for all of us that it was over. He went out with dignity, and that was the most important thing for us.”

It’s believed he decided to quit before the vote was taken, reasoning if it was lost then there was “no way back” after such a rejection by the British public.

It still came as a shock to those within the Government who, according to media reports, believed they had convinced Mr Cameron to stay on.

Mr Cameron has promised to do everything he could to help the transition away from the EU.

“I said before Britain can survive outside the EU and indeed that we could find a way. I will do everything I can to help.” Mr Cameron ha

He said: “I will do everything I can as Prime Minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months, but I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.”

Former London Mayor, now MP, Boris Johnson lead the Leave campaign and is considered a frontrunner to replace his old friend, Mr Cameron.

Mr Johnson was booed and called a “t***” by protesters as he left his central London home on Friday morning. He didn’t confirm he would stand to succeed the PM, but appealed directly to all Britons to unite to help build a stronger nation in a statesmen-like speech.

Meanwhile, the shock result may have wider implications for the United Kingdom — including suggestions it may break up.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said a second independence vote was now “highly likely” after a 2014 referendum backed staying in the UK.

“The option of a second referendum must be on the table and it is on the table,” she told reporters, saying it was “democratically unacceptable” for Scotland to be dragged out of the EU against its will.

In Northern Ireland, the nationalist Sinn Fein party seized on the result to call for a vote on reunification with the Irish Republic.

The possibility of such a vote is included in the 1998 peace accord that largely ended three decades of violence in the province, but leaders north and south of the border were quick to dismiss the idea, with Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny saying there were “much more serious issues to deal with.”