Brexit: What will happen next?

The British public has voted for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to leave the European Union.

The United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister, her name is Theresa May.

Theresa May was not in favour of leaving the EU, but now that she is Prime Minister, she has said that she will respect the result of the vote to leave the European Union. After she was appointed as Prime Minister she said: "Brexit means Brexit. The campaign was fought, the vote was held, turnout was high and the public gave their verdict. There must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door and no second referendum."

The actual process of the UK leaving the EU will begin when the British government formally notifies Brussels that it is invoking Article 50. Theresa May is currently on a tour of European Countries, meeting with her counterparts. Theresa May is not expected to invoke Article 50 until 2017.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor has agreed with Theresa May that Article 50 should not be invoked this year. She has said that it is necessary for all parties, including Britain, to ‘identify its interests’ before invoking Article 50.

The European Commission has appointed a chief Brexit negotiator. his name is Michel Barnier. Michel Barnier was French foreign minister between 2004 and 2005 and the EU's internal markets commissioner between 2010 and 2014. He is considered have good connections in the European Union and is expected to provide strong leadership in the negotiations.

What is Article 50? Read more here: BBC The simplest explanation about Article 50