Tory ministers refuse to be drawn on PM’s future

SENIOR Cabinet ministers yesterday refused to be drawn on how long Theresa May can cling to office.

Chancellor Philip Hammond and House of Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom both dodged the question amid speculation the Prime Minister has only days to save her job.

Reports yesterday claimed Tory MPs including ministers were ready to oust her by the end of the month if she looked like losing Commons votes on June 28 and 29 on her Queen’s Speech agenda.

Mrs May is struggling with the aftermath of humiliatingly losing her Commons majority in the General Election she called to strengthen her hand.

A deal is still awaited with Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party under which its 10 MPs would prop up the minority Tory administration in key votes, while Mrs May has also suffered criticism for her public response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Some Tory grassroots activists are pressing MPs to act against her. One unnamed minister told friends that she must “shape up or ship out”.

Pinning Mrs May’s future as Prime Minister to her showing she can get her legislative agenda through the Commons at the end of this month means she has as little as 10 days to fend off pressure to quit.

“The critical moment is June 28 and 29 when there are votes on the Queen’s Speech.

“If it looks like they will be lost, you have to strike,” said one former minister.

Mrs May must now put on strong performances in the Commons and at Thursday’s Brussels summit with EU leaders, as well as turbocharging her Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Asked how long Mrs May had left in No 10, Mr Hammond told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “Theresa is leading the Government and I think the Government needs to get on with its job – and I think that’s what most people will think, that the Government just needs to get on with the day job of government.”

Grilled by ITV’s Robert Peston about whether Mrs May would “survive” in office, Mr Hammond said that she was “focused” on dealing with the Grenfell Tower tragedy. He also spoke with candour about the Conservative election campaign in which he had no frontline role.

He admitted: “I would have liked to have highlighted our economic record and I think if we had focused on that, we probably would have done better in the election than we did.”

Commons Leader Mrs Leadsom – who briefly fought Mrs May for the Tory leadership last summer – told the BBC’s Sunday Politics: “I’m absolutely supportive of the Prime Minister.”