THE COUP DESCENDS INTO CHAOS
THE plot to remove Theresa May was mired in chaos yesterday as the ringleaders were forced to admit they did not yet have the numbers to oust her.
Hardline Eurosceptics made a humiliating retreat just hours after gloating that they had more than enough Tory MPs to trigger a leadership challenge.
Government whips gathered in Westminster to prepare for the possibility of a confidence vote in Mrs May. They mounted an operation to persuade some of those thought to have sent letters of no-confidence to withdraw them.
The team, responsible for party discipline, is also thought to have begun the process of sounding out Tory MPs in case the vote is triggered.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group, had rejected the British prime minister’s plan moments after it was published on Wednesday evening and announced he was submitting a letter.
Shortly before lunchtime yesterday, his ally Steve Baker announced on a WhatsApp group for the plotters that they had enough names to force a confidence vote.
Under Tory rules, a challenge is triggered if 48 MPs submit letters of no-confidence to Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee.
In a message to his co-conspirators, Mr Baker wrote: ‘My count is over 48 with about a dozen probables on top.’ But just a little over an hour later, the ERG’s deputy leader backtracked in a live TV interview.
‘People have been ringing me and they are telling me that they are putting letters in. I have spoken to colleagues as well and I think we are probably not far off. I think it is probably imminent,’ he told BBC2’s Politics Live. He acknowledged he had sent the WhatsApp message to colleagues, but admitted the number was probably inaccurate and only Mr Brady knew the true figure.
‘My number will be inaccurate because people will withdraw letters, they will tell me they have put letters in when they haven’t, they will take them out and not tell you they have taken them out,’ he added. By mid-afternoon Mr Baker had rowed back even further, saying he did not expect they would reach 48 letters until next week.
He told BBC News: ‘I think it is much more likely next week because many of my colleagues on a decision this big will want to see their association chairmen, presidents, deputy chairmen, key members in their associations, to ask their opinions.’
Mr Baker faced further ridicule after he suggested that the Brexiteers could draw lots to pick their favoured successor to Mrs May.
He told Sky News: ‘What we would need to do is identify the plausible candidates, we need to stick them in a room and say “let’s not repeat the mistake of last time”, decide amongst yourselves – even if you have to draw lots.’
Former culture secretary John Whittingdale and ex-minister Mark Francois were among the latest Tories to submit letters of noconfidence in Mrs May.
However, by last night only 23 British Tory MPs had publicly declared that they have sent letters, significantly short of the required threshold. Should 48 letters be received, a vote would be held in which Mrs May would need support from a majority of Tory MPs to remain as leader.
Mrs May’s de facto deputy David Lidington yesterday insisted that Mrs May will ‘handsomely’ defeat any bid to overthrow her.
Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd said: ‘This is not a time for changing our leader. This is a time for pulling together.’
Didn’t get numbers to oust May as PM