SCANDAL-HIT FORMER WHIP WHO BACKED JOHNSON
IN the wake of June’s election, the former chief whip became the focus of attempts to oust the Prime Minister following claims he told a private dinner she was ‘dead in the water’, had ‘lost her authority’ and was ‘weak’.
But the Sutton Coldfield MP distanced himself from the latest plot on Thursday, telling students at the Cambridge Union that Mrs May deserved ‘ respect’ for making it through her difficult conference speech.
Mr Mitchell is best known for the ‘plebgate’ scandal when he was forced to resign from the Cabinet in 2012 after swearing at a Downing Street policeman. He always denied using the word ‘pleb’.
The ex-international development secretary is an ally of Brexit Secretary David Davis. Despite backing Boris Johnson in last year’s leadership contest, Mr Mitchell was disap- pointed when Mrs May decided not to bring him back onto the frontbenches. He is thought to hold a grudge and has form for holding the assassin’s knife, having been linked to attempts to oust Iain Duncan Smith when he was leader.