A DEAD WOMAN WALKING
May told to bring enemy Gove back into her Cabinet PM will not survive to fight another election
HUMBLED Theresa May was last night forced to bring archrival Michael Gove back into the Cabinet after being branded a “dead woman walking”.
The Prime Minister was ordered to revive Mr Gove’s career and appoint a powerful Deputy Prime Minister by Tory grandees fuming at her botched election campaign.
She will be toppled by the Tories once MPs decide the time is right – in line with Winston Churchill’s famous quote that a bad leader must be “poleaxed”.
Yesterday’s reshuffle was dubbed a “non-shuffle”, with Mrs May too weak to sack any of her colleagues and ordered to bring back Mr Gove.
She axed him from the Cabinet when she became PM last summer after his knifing of Boris Johnson.
Mr Johnson last night made clear he has forgiven him, tweeting: “It’s a GOVERNMENT of all the talents. Welcome back to Michael!” Mrs May said of Mr Gove’s appointment as Environment Secretary: “I’ve brought in talent from across the whole of the Conservative Party. I believe that’s important.
“This is a Government that is going to be governing for everyone.”
Mr Gove, who clashed bitterly with Mrs May over tackling extremism when she was Home Secretary, said that he had been taken by surprise when the invitation came to visit No10. “I genuinely didn’t expect this role,” he said .“I am delighted to be part of the Government. I am delighted to be able to support Theresa May to ensure that we have a Government capable of delivering on the people’s wishes.” Party chiefs also confirmed Mrs May will have to ditch much of the manifesto, as she does not have the MPs to get it through. She will face furious backbenchers at a meeting of the Tories’ 1922 committee tonight after MPs return to Westminster.
“Theresa May is a dead woman walking,” former Chancellor George Osborne said on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. “It’s just how long she’s going to remain on death row.”
Tory MPs openly speculated that she could be ousted within weeks but the PM was given a stay of execution by Cabinet colleagues. They fear her removal could trigger another election, and that Labour would then win a majority.
Instead she was ordered by senior ministers to scrap a big reshuffle and to bring in a Deputy PM to act as the
Cabinet’s link to No10.
She had already been forced to sack her closest aides Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy by ministers who said she must change the way she operates or resign immediately. “We’re going to see, I hope, more collective decision-making in the Cabinet,” Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon told the Marr Show.
“I and other senior colleagues have made that clear.”
Mrs May’s choice for her deputy was her close pal Damian Green, the Work and Pensions Secretary. He was given the title of First Secretary of State previously held by George Osborne and William Hague.
Mr Green was replaced at the DWP by Treasury Secretary David Gauke, who is seen as a safe pair of hands.
His replacement at the Treasury is gaffe-prone Justice Secretary Liz Truss, who in turn was replaced by Commons leader David Lidington.
The new Commons leader is Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom – clearing the way for Brexiteer Mr Gove’s unlikely return to the top of Government. Anti-EU ministers and MPs ordered her to bring him back as the price for their continuing support. She had considered sacking a succession of key ministers including Chancellor Philip Hammond, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox but was left too weak to carry out the wider reshuffle she had planned.
Mr Johnson was forced to deny as “tripe” widespread reports he was considering a bid to topple Mrs May and install himself as PM.
It was reported that five Cabinet ministers had offered to back him if he decided to challenge her.
But in a WhatsApp message to Tory MPs leaked to ITV, Mr Johnson wrote: “Folks we need to calm down and get behind the Prime Minister. She won more votes than anyone since Margaret Thatcher.” He added that the public “do not want another election”.
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley, a close ally of Mrs May, also rallied round, telling Sky News: “This is not the time for sharks to be circling. This is the time for us to come together.”
But privately Tory MPs are certain that Mrs May will not be around for long – and certainly won’t be there to fight another election.
One, Tory moderate Nicky Morgan, said she expects a leadership contest within weeks. “I suspect it could be this summer. Theresa May cannot fight another general election.”
Tory grandee Lord Heseltine said: “She’ll never lead the Conservative Party into another election but there is no immediate need for a change.”
Graham Brady, who chairs the 1922 backbenchers committee, warned tonight’s meeting could be stormy. He told the BBC’s Westminster Hour: “I’m sure there will be lots of colleagues wanting to air their concerns about the way the campaign was run.”