LITTLE CONFIDENCE OVER THAT NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE

THE FIZZLING out of the latest Tory plot to try to oust Theresa May has raised fresh questions about the parliamentary party’s rules for removing a sitting leader. The Prime Minister’s allies are becoming increasingly frustrated that the guessing game about the number of letters written by MPs demanding a no-confidence vote refuses to come to an end.

The current rules for ejecting and replacing a leader were introduced in 1998 when the Tory grassroots were in a vengeful mood following the landslide general election victory won by Tony Blair in the previous year. Conservative activists who felt betrayed by the blunders of John Major’s government wanted to ensure his successors could be held to account.

Under the rules, a vote of no-confidence in the Tory leader must be held if at least 15 per cent of the party’s MPs demand it. MPs wanting a change at the top must make their views known in private letters sent to the chairman of the 1922 Committee, the ruling body of the Tory backbenchers.

Sir Graham Brady, the committee chairman, keeps information about such letters confidential. He told MPs last week that even his wife did not know how many letters had been received.

Yet the lack of information breeds speculation. Early last week, several foes of the Prime Minister insisted that at least 48 letters had been submitted, hitting the 15 per cent threshold. They were furious when no contest was announced at the meeting of the 1922 Committee on Wednesday where Mrs May was noisily cheered by supporters.

“You have to assume that MPs who insisted they had written letters were not being truthful,” one critic of Mrs May told me. “There is a lot of hypocrisy in politics, I’m afraid. I saw MPs who claim they have written letters in the meeting clapping and applauding her.”

Perhaps the time has come to bring some transparency to proceedings by ensuring requests for a confidence vote are made public. Such a move might make rebel MPs think twice about demanding a contest and give any sitting prime minister a bit more space to get on and govern.