UK PM Cameron formally resigns

In his final speech as prime minister, delivered in front of 10 Downing Street with his family, David Cameron reflected on his achievements.

As rain began to fall, Cameron outlined what he regarded as his accomplishments in government: reducing the deficit, increasing employment and seeing the formation of a million new businesses. He said: "being prime minister has been the greatest honor of my life."

Cameron then delivered his resignation to the Queen at Buckingham Palace and recommended Theresa May as his successor. The Queen's office issued a statement saying the resignation had been accepted.

May on the way

EU President Donald Tusk was quick, if not premature, in offering his congratulations to May, even before she had been formally appointed as prime minister:

As Tusk tweeted, May was still to follow Cameron to Buckingham Palace and be formally appointed. Only then was she to start appointing Cabinet ministers and dealing with a series of issues - including managing the UK's exit from Europe.

This includes negotiations with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who said on Wednesday she would urge May to respect the overwhelming vote in Scotland to remain in the EU: "Theresa May said in her view Brexit means Brexit. I respect that she has a mandate for that as England and Wales voted for it," Sturgeon told reporters in London on Wednesday. But Sturgeon added "Brexit doesn't mean Brexit for Scotland because Scotland didn't vote for Brexit."

"For us, Remain means Remain," she said.

Sturgeon cited the cases of Jersey and Guernsey which are British crown dependencies off the French coast and are not part of the UK or the EU, but which are treated as part of the European free trade zone.

Next move for Cameron

The Cameron family house in London is currently rented out but there have been press reports that their new home could be in Scotland, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Queen's summer residence, Balmoral.

Tillypronie estate in Aberdeenshire comes with 15,000 acres of land, and is currently owned by Philip Astor, who is a distant relative of Cameron's wife Samantha. It is on the market for 20 million pounds (23.7 million euros or $26.3 million).

jm/msh (Reuters, AP)