ROUT OF THE PYGMIES

Tories unite to scupper plot against May as she pledges to carry on

A PLOT to oust Theresa May collapsed into a shambles yesterday as Tory MPs and ministers united to condemn the betrayal of rivals seeking revenge.

Shortly before midnight on Thursday, former Tory chairman Grant Shapps publicly kicked off his challenge to the Prime Minister in a radio phone-in, claiming he had ‘around 30 names’ of MPs who wanted her resignation.

But within hours he faced humiliation and isolation as his promised support failed to materialise.

Dozens of his colleagues lined up to ridicule the ‘embittered’ ex-minister – with some accusing him of seeking to topple Mrs May in a bid to thwart Brexit.

A Sky News survey of 103 Tory MPs last night found only three who wanted the Prime Minister to go.

Having killed off the plot, a defiant Mrs May used her first public appearance since her party conference speech to say her leadership had Cabinet’s full backing.

Speaking in her Maidenhead constituency, she said: ‘Now what the country needs is calm leadership, and that’s what I am providing with the full support of my Cabinet.’ Last night Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon urged the plotters not to revive any attempts to oust the Prime Minister, warning them they risked damaging her hand in Brexit negotiations.

‘We are at a critical point now of the key negotiation for Brexit to deliver a successful Brexit for this country and I would urge all colleagues in Parliament to get behind the Prime Minister and the Cabinet so we get the best possible outcome for our country,’ he told ITV.

Mr Shapps broke cover on Thursday after he was named as the ringleader of a gang of MPs planning to send a delegation to Mrs May to tell her she must go, confirming his role on a late night BBC Radio 5 live phonein. He said the plan had been for a group – including five ex- Cabinet ministers – to approach Mrs May in private with a list of names to avoid the ‘ embarrassment’ of a formal leadership challenge.

In a series of interviews yesterday morning, he insisted support for a leadership election was growing among a ‘ broad spread’ of Tory MPs. He told the BBC’s Today programme: ‘ They are Remainers, they are Brexiteers. A growing number of my colleagues, we realise that the solution isn’t to bury our heads in the sand.’

But he was angrily denounced by fellow Tory MPs – who said it was clear the rebels lacked the 48 MPs they needed to force a contest under the party rules, and questioned whether they could even muster as many as 30. Charles Walker, vicechairman of the powerful 1922 Com- mittee, dismissed Mr Shapps and his supporters as a ‘coalition of the disappointed’ who had been overlooked for promotion.

‘Grant has many talents but the one thing he doesn’t have is a following in the party. I really think this is now just going to fizzle out,’ he told the BBC. Nadine Dorries MP claimed Mr Shapps was part of a group of Remain-backing MPs – including ex-ministers Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry – seeking to oust Mrs May as part of a bid to ‘delay and possibly destroy Brexit’.

Appearing later on Sky News, she added: ‘If Grant Shapps has 30 names then Diane Abbott is doing the counting.’ Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the ‘entirety’ of the Cabinet want her to carry on. ‘She showed an amaz- ing degree of resilience and courage this week, of a piece with the fantastic leadership she has shown through the time that she has been Prime Minister,’ he said.

Allies of Boris Johnson also vehemently denied claims they had been ‘in cahoots’ with Mr Shapps.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd made a public appeal for the Mrs May to stay on, saying the UK had reached a ‘ turning point as a nation’. However she appeared to position herself as a potential leadership successor as she offered up her vision for post-Brexit Britain. In an article for the Daily Telegraph following Mrs May’s chaotic conference speech, she hammered home several new Tory policies.

‘Coalition of the disappointed’