01 September, 2017
Speaking on the first day of a three-day diplomatic trip to Japan, Mrs May said she was aware of the rumours that she could be replaced as the leader of the Conservative Party.
Pushed again if she wanted to fight the next election as leader of the Conservatives, by ITV, Mrs May said: "Yes, there's been an very bad lot of speculation about my future which has no basis in it whatsoever".
Pushed again by the BBC this evening if it was her intention to run for another term as PM, Mrs May said: "Yes".
But this has not stopped speculation about how long she might remain in No 10 and about potential successors, although one cabinet minister earlier this summer blamed such talk on too much "warm prosecco".
May joined her Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at a traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, the ancient Japanese capital, and was due to have dinner with him.
Just six weeks ago Mrs May repeatedly side-stepped the question on whether she wanted to lead the Tories into the next general election - now set in law for June 2022 - to instead say: "I have got a job to do". That deal was agreed in principle last month, though matters such as investment protections and data flows still need to be finalized.
The veteran party member, who discussed May's prospects on condition of anonymity, said he thought May was honest in pledging to stay on until the next election, despite the chorus of calls from foes within the party for her to step aside. "And that's exactly what I and the government are doing".
While Shapps said there were frustrations in the party with May, he conceded that there was little appetite for another leadership change among Conservatives. "I think what Mr Abe wants to hear from the prime minister is where she hopes to land on Brexit". "We have got to think about how we renew our franchise".
The London Evening Standard, now edited by George Osborne, the Conservative sacked by May as finance minister when she became prime minister a year ago, described her pledge to run again as "Like the Living Dead in a second-rate horror film".
"My own guess is they won't".
"The premiership of Theresa May staggers on oblivious". Days after the election in June, Osborne said May was a "dead woman walking".
"We stand at a really critical time in the United Kingdom", she said.
Some analysts say the chances of Japan agreeing to copy and paste the European Union deal for the Brits is far-fetched. It is the only thing she could say.
And with no one willing to challenge May, it made more sense to keep her as leader to guide Britain through what could become a messy Brexit.
The prime minister has been under pressure after losing her Commons majority in a snap election called earlier this year.
The pro-Brexit wing of the party also backed May's comments.
But as recently as July Mrs May had swerved all questions about her future.
"There won't be a leadership election until such time as she resigns and she has made it very clear she is not going to", he said. United Kingdom foreign secretary Boris Johnson, among the candidates in line to step in as the prime minister, continued to back May.
"The sooner we can get to a position where at least, for example, there will be no tariffs, that will be a big breakthrough, because that would allow you to invest with confidence". "If she comes out of it with jobs up, and is seen to have told the European Union to get off and prospects are good. well you can go hero to zero and vice versa".
"I think she gets it".
She hadn't set off to the Far East to deliver a message that she would "go on and on". "I'm here to support her".
