Tories are plotting to stab PM in the back
THE Tories will ditch Theresa May if she doesn’t win a hefty election majority. The news came as the wobbly PM’s poll slump continued.
THERESA May’s Tory pals are sharpening their knives and will turn on her if she fails to deliver a hefty majority next week.
Conservative candidates are grumbling privately that the PM has cost them votes with her stuttering performances and disastrous attacks on older people’s incomes.
One told the Mirror: “People are getting to know Theresa May in this campaign and the truth is, quite a few don’t much like what they see.
“Since our manifesto was launched it has got tighter and tighter. We’re still going to win but if she does not deliver the big majority she promised she is going to come under pressure.”
Another poll yesterday showed Labour closing the gap dramatically.
Panelbase had the Tories down four points on 44% and Labour up three on 36%. It follows a YouGov poll which put Mrs May’s lead at just 3% – small enough for a hung Parliament.
The PM would almost certainly have to resign immediately if she failed to secure a majority on June 8.
Other surveys suggest the Tories will still win a comfortable victory.
But every major polling firm agrees the huge lead they enjoyed when the election was called has been cut dramatically. And a survey of more than 1,000 Tory members on the Conservative Home website gave Mrs May’s campaign an average rating of just 4.7 out of 10.
Reflecting the depth of despair at the lacklustre drive for votes, a third of them rated it either one, two or three out of 10.
Underneath the article, Tory readers vented their fury. One wrote: “It is an awful campaign. You can’t very well put Brexit centre stage and not say anything about it.”
Splits emerged at the weekend for the first time between Mrs May’s two most trusted advisers, joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, over the “Dementia Tax” disaster. Mrs May’s partial U-turn did little to stay the nerves of wealthier voters who would be hardest hit. One Tory candidate said: “It has gone down like cold sick.” At the same time, her decision to strip all but the very poorest pensioners of their winter fuel payments – potentially hitting up to 10 million – has infuriated less-well-off elderly voters. One Labour MP battling to save his seat said yesterday “That social care package swung things in our direction. I am very optimistic.” Another Labour candidate said: “Six
weeks ago people said they liked Theresa May. They are not saying that any longer.” No candidate we spoke to would say the outcome will be anything other than a Tory victory. But for Mrs May that might not be enough to stave off inside attacks.
She had been considering sacking big-hitters such as Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond from her Cabinet if she wins the landslide she craves. But the PM would not have the power or authority should she fail to secure a decent majority.
In comments that quickly went viral, one unnamed Tory candidate told the Huffington Post: “I’m pretty f***ed off. People on the doorstep are telling me: ‘She’s going after pensioners, she doesn’t know what she’s doing, she doesn’t answer questions on the TV.’ I’ve switched from saying ‘Vote for her’ to ‘Vote for me’.
“It’s hard to understand how people in London who get paid a lot of money made such a clusterf**k.
“If you were going to write what not to do in a campaign, then running it on strong and stable leadership and changing your mind on everything would be it. It’s like Yes Minister.”
Mrs May looked rattled on the campaign trail yesterday.
She ducked out of appearing on today’s Radio 4 Woman’s Hour but will head to York for a BBC Question Time special alongside Mr Corbyn.
In a bid to lure Labour Brexit supporters in Teesside, West Yorks and Derbyshire she reeled off her well-rehearsed platitudes.
“This great national moment needs a great national effort in which we pull together with a unity of purpose… “We will build a more united country as our shared values and aspirations bring us together…”
It was far more fun at Thorpe Park Resort in Surrey where three actors portraying May, Corbyn and Lib-Dem Tim Farron are starring in a new “Poll-tergeist” ride aimed at encouraging young people to get involved.