May called ‘dead woman walking’ as Corbyn relishes another election

LABOUR is looking towards the potential of a second General Election with excitement while Theresa May fights for her political life in Downing Street after last week’s humiliation at the ballot box.

Former chancellor George Osborne said the Prime Minister was “dead woman walking” and could be ousted in a matter of days.

“Theresa May is a dead woman walking. It is just how long she is going to remain on death row,” he told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show. “I think we will know very shortly. We could easily get to the middle of next week and it all collapses for her.”

However, Graham Brady, the influential chairman of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee, said there was no appetite for a leadership contest which could see the party having to fight another General Election.

Mr Brady said he did not believe there was any mood among Conservative MPs for a leadership contest that would create fresh instability.

“I think that there is zero appetite amongst the public for another General Election at the moment and I don’t detect any great appetite amongst my colleagues for presenting the public with an additional dose of uncertainty by getting involved in a rather selfindulgent Conservative Party election campaign,” he told the BBC’s Sunday Politics.

Meanwhile, an upbeat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn talked up the possibility of another election “later this year or early next year”, insisting the party was “ready any time”.

The Labour leader said his party would “absolutely” ensure Brexit occurs if they secured power, with a focus on negotiating tariff-free access as part of a “jobs-first Brexit”.

Labour won 262 seats in the General Election, up from the 232 secured by Ed Miliband in 2015, but the Conservatives remain the largest party in Parliament.

Mr Corbyn believes that without an outright majority Mrs May’s position is vulnerable and he intends to oppose the Queen’s Speech and table a “substantial amendment” in an attempt to bring down her administration.

Another General Election within months is also expected, Mr Corbyn said, on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show. He said: “I think it’s quite possible there’ll be an election later this year or early next year and that might be a good thing because we cannot go on with a period of great instability.

“We have a programme, we have the support and we are ready to fight another election as soon as maybe because we want to be able to serve the people of this country on the agenda we put forward which is transformative and has gained amazing levels of support.”

Mr Corbyn said the party raised millions of pounds from an average donation of £22 a person as he sought to reassure that Labour has funds for another campaign. He added: “We’re ready any time.”

Mr Brady later confirmed Mrs