MAY IN CHARGE AS CHALLENGE TO PREMIERSHIP COLLAPSES

LONDON: A nagging cough and a failing voice added to British Prime Minister Theresa May’s political woes this week, but the weekend saw her staying on , as a new challenge to her leadership collapsed and her ambitious foreign secretary Boris Johnson fell in line.

May and leading lights in the Conservative Party took to the print media on Sunday to warn of unrest paving the way for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street. May appeared to have survived another threat to her leadership after a bid to oust her by former party chairman Grant Shapps collapsed when it did not find much support among party MPS.

Johnson, whose every statement is seen as a challenge and bid for leadership, had earlier used his column in The Sunday Telegraph to question whether the party would allow itself to be forced into “an election that no one wants”.

May told The Sunday Times that she is “pretty resilient”, and added that it was not her style to “hide from a challenge”.

Amid demands that she sack Johnson to reassert her authority and introduce young party leaders to senior positions, May has faced questions on whether Johnson is “unsackable” due to her weakened position.

Asked what she might do with him, May said “It has never been my style to hide from a challenge and I’m not going to start now. I’m the PM, and part of my job is to make sure I always have the best people in my cabinet, to make the most of the wealth of talent available to me in the party.”