I’m no quitter says May as she insists: I WILL fight the next election

‘I’m here for the long-term’

THERESA May stunned MPs last night by vowing to stay on as Tory leader and fight the 2022 general election.

The Prime Minister said she was ‘not a quitter’ and would remain in office to guide the country through Brexit and beyond.

Her bold declaration could see her stay in office for another ten years if the Conservatives win the next election and she serves two full terms.

Her pledge will shock Westminster after her decision to call a snap election resulted in the humiliating loss of her party’s Commons majority.

Many had assumed Mrs May would remain as Prime Minister only until Britain formally left the EU in 2019, before stepping down and handing over to a new leader to fight the next election.

Indeed, many MPs believed they had a tacit understanding this would be the case. But as she arrived in Japan yesterday for the start of a three-day trip, Mrs May made clear she had no such intention of quitting.

She dismissed a recent report that suggested she would quit in the summer of 2019 following Brexit as having ‘no basis whatsoever’. Instead, Mrs May insisted there was still an ‘awful lot more’ she wanted to get done to deliver a ‘brighter future’ for the country.

Asked if she intended to lead the Tories into the next election, the Prime Minister said: ‘Yes. I’m here for the long-term and it’s crucial. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit, we are delivering a brighter future for the United Kingdom.’

She added: ‘I’m in this for the long-term because there’s a longterm challenge for the United Kingdom. We need to get the Brexit deal right, deliver the right deal for the people of the UK, but we also need to ensure that after we have left the EU, global Britain is out there trading around the world, standing tall.’

She then declared: ‘I am not a quitter.’ But this risks re-igniting leadership rows in the Conservative Party ahead of its annual conference in just a few weeks.

Most colleagues were willing to accept her remaining in office as they feared a damaging leadership contest that could lead to another election and hand Jeremy Corbyn the keys to Downing Street.

However, there could now be rumblings from those with their eyes on the top job – thought to include Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis. But it is thought Mrs May has been emboldened because no one has emerged as a serious contender.

Explaining why she thought she should continue, Mrs May said that while she had promised to ‘get on with the job of Brexit’, her vision for her premiership included securing ‘changes domestically on issues such as social justice’. Over the summer, Mrs May said she had reflected on her election disappointment in June, but had decided that people wanted her to continue to deliver Brexit.

She said: ‘Obviously what I have done since the election is reflected on the messages and issues the public felt were important and that came through.

‘I think coming out of it, the general view I got from the public in relation to Brexit was get on with it, but make sure you get a good deal.’

Former Tory leader William Hague warned Cabinet ministers against plotting to replace Mrs May. He told the BBC: ‘The ones who manoeuvre probably will not become the leader and they should get behind Theresa May and help her to do a good job in these exceptionally difficult circumstances.’

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