PM to face live grilling by voters in Dave-style tour of UK
THERESA May is planning a nationwide tour to meet hundreds of voters in a sign of her restored confidence.
They will have the chance to grill her on any topic in a revival of the informal question-and-answer sessions beloved of her predecessor David Cameron.
Similar to those ‘ Cameron Direct’ roadshows, the Prime Minister will hold sessions with people in town halls and workplaces across the country.
During the general election campaign, Tory strategists were accused of not allowing Mrs May to spend enough time meeting voters.
She held a series of Q&As in battleground seats across the country, but most of these were packed with Tory party activists and supporters.
Mrs May was also accused of appearing robotic after aides insisted she constantly repeat scripted election slogans such as ‘strong and stable’.
It is hoped that she will be able to show more of her personality and connect with voters in the fresh raft of events that are planned to be more informal and include more people not connected with the party. The planned roadshows show how Mrs May has got the spring back in her step.
She has been boosted by her successful conclusion of the first phase of Brexit negotiations.
Last week a YouGov poll showed the Tories had pulled ahead of Labour for the first time since the general election.
Since the huge disappointment of the Tories losing their majority, Mrs May has refreshed her premiership to boost her standing with voters. Changes include her embrace of social media. She has become a regular user of Twitter and Instagram, which she had mostly avoided in her first year in Downing Street.
The Tories are trying to make up ground after Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party successfully used social media sites such as Facebook to spread their messages.
Mr Corbyn has also been praised for attracting large crowds at rallies during the election campaign.
Last week Mrs May lost her first vote on government business in the Commons after diehard Tory Remainers sided with the opposition on the EU Withdrawal Bill.
Immediately she brushed off the defeat and attended a summit in Brussels where EU leaders agreed to her demand to move to the second stage of Brexit negotiations, which includes opening talks on a trade deal.
At the weekend, Mrs May vowed that her plans for Brexit would not be ‘derailed’.
The Prime Minister claimed her Government was ‘ proving the doubters wrong’ and hit out at anti- Brexit campaigners who ‘want to talk Britain down’.
She said: ‘We are securing the best and most ambitious Brexit deal. We will not be derailed from this fundamental duty to deliver the democratic will of the British people.’