May says she has support despite plot to oust her
U.K. prime minister fighting fallout from disaster election as investors fear Brexit
LONDON— Theresa May vowed to carry on as U.K. prime minister, insisting she has the full support of her cabinet despite a campaign to oust her that threatens to complicate Brexit talks.
May is facing calls to quit after a disastrous election campaign in June and a chaotic speech to her party’s conference in Manchester on Wednesday, which was disrupted by a prankster, a prolonged coughing fit and a stage set that started to collapse behind her. A group of Conservatives fear she will lose the next election, handing power to socialist Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
“What the country needs is calm leadership and that’s what I’m providing, with the full support of my cabinet,” May told reporters in her constituency of Maidenhead near London.
Her comments come after her former cabinet colleague Grant Shapps announced he was orchestrating a campaign to persuade May to step aside so the Conservative party can choose a new leader and prime minister.
Shapps said about 30 lawmakers had signed up to his move. That’s fewer than the 48 needed to remove her against her will, so if May is determined to stay then she can.
The pound fell after Shapps’s announcement, as the prospect of months of political uncertainty unnerved investors, and pared losses after May’s comments. She told a TV crew that she had been unwell but would press ahead with her workload.
“Look I’ve had a cold all this week,” May said in comments broadcast on Sky News. “Next week I’m going to be updating MPs on my Florence speech, which has given real momentum to the Brexit talks and I will also be introducing a draft bill to cap energy prices which will stop ordinary working families from being ripped off.”
The possibility that May’s departure could usher in a Brexit hardliner is worrying to businesses and investors who want a longer, smoother transition than the one advocated by a popular anti-EU wing of the party.
Tories also worry that ousting May could set in chain a series of events that leads to yet another general election, which would risk handing power to the socialist Labour leader Corbyn.