Set your date to quit, Cabinet tells Mrs May
THeReSA May is under pressure from ministers to set a timetable for her departure, it was claimed last night.
Sources said it was a question of ‘when not if’ she resigns from No10. And discussions have apparently begun about when she should be ousted if she refuses to go before the next election.
‘One possibility is that she will be forced out straight after we leave the eU in March next year to bring in a new broom who can rebuild the party before the next election,’ a cabinet source told the Daily Telegraph.
‘But there is a growing feeling that she could be allowed to stay on for longer than that, to get Brexit completely done and dusted so that the next leader can focus completely on domestic policy.
‘That would mean she would be given one more party conference in a year’s time, but she would need to use that conference to announce when she intended to stand down.’ Another source said: ‘ One of the reasons she may be allowed to stay on until 2020 is that most of the party still doesn’t think there is an obvious candidate to replace her. Waiting a little longer would give a younger candidate time to garner support.’
Mrs May will try to rally the Tory conference faithful today with an upbeat assess- ment of the UK after Brexit, saying: ‘I passionately believe our best days lie ahead of us and that our future is full of promise. Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes.’
And she will turn her guns on labour by claiming voters are appalled by what Jeremy Corbyn has done to the party.