‘Toxic’ aides resign over election flop

THERESA May’s two closest aides quit yesterday over their part in her disastrous election campaign.

The Prime Minister’s joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill resigned after Tory MPs and excolleagues turned on the pair.

Senior Conservatives are said to have warned Mrs May she would face an immediate leadership challenge if she did not ditch her “toxic” advisers.

Former Downing Street communications chief Katie Perrior accused them of “rude, abusive, childish behaviour”.

She claimed they bombarded cabinet ministers with rude text messages and that Hill put forward “crazy ideas”.

She said: “It was pretty dysfunctional. “The atmosphere would be great if the chiefs of staff weren’t there and terrible if the chiefs of staff were there.”

Ms Perrior also criticised the PM over her attitude towards the pair.

She said: “Mrs May condoned their behaviour and turned a blind eye or didn’t understand how destructive they both were.”

And one Tory MP from northern England, where the party had expected to win seats from Labour, said their “sacking” was “much welcomed” by Conservative politicians.

The MP added: “Those two have been instrumental in delivering the worst Conservative election campaign in living memory.

“Hopefully the PM will now begin to listen to her colleagues who are more in touch with the electorate than rely on a small group of out-of-touch advisers.”

Mr Timothy, who is nicknamed Rasputin by some Tories, did admit responsibility for his role in the “disappointing” result and the controversial “dementia tax”.

But Labour said the pair had “taken the fall” for the PM.

Mr Timothy also set out his concerns about the way the campaign was managed, in comments viewed as a swipe at election guru Lynton Crosby.

He said the campaign failed to get “Theresa’s positive plan for the future across” or “notice the surge in Labour support”.