The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Clear lack of support from within for Prime Minister
But insiders believe Theresa May will see out Brexit talks
Theresa May’s authority was undermined by her Chancellor on the eve of Brexit talks by refusing to say how long he believes she will stay Prime Minister.
Philip Hammond, who was barely visible in the run up to the June 8 vote, also criticised the party’s election campaign and said the Conservatives would have “probably done better” if they had focused on its economic record.
He admitted his role had not been the “one I would have liked it to be”.
Mr Hammond told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I would have liked to have made much more of our economic record, which I think is an excellent one, creating 2.9 million new jobs, getting the deficit down by threequarters.”
Asked how long Mrs May had left in number 10, he replied: “I think what the country needs now is a period of calm while we get on with the job at hand.
“Theresa is leading the Government and I think the Government needs to get on with its job.”
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom, who challenged Mrs May, sidestepped a question over whether she would lead the party into next election, saying only: “I don’t look into the future”.
And David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, also failed to offer support, telling BBC Sunday Politics Scotland it was “self-evident in England and Wales it wasn’t a successful election campaign.”
He added: “We lost seats, compared to the position in Scotland where we fought our own campaign and we picked up those 12 additional seats.”
Reports in Sunday newspapers claimed that backbenchers and some Cabinet ministers were weighing up a leadership challenge, should it look like Mrs May will struggle to get her Queen’s speech passed by Parliament.
London Minister Greg Hands dismissed claims that Tory MPs had told Mrs May she had 10 days to save her position, saying the party was “united” in its support of the Prime Minister.
Tory sources told The Courier that “most people want her to carry on as there is no obvious alternative”.
It is understood this group hopes an alternative will emerge over the two years of Brexit negotiations.
Other insiders, including those extremely critical of the campaign, which has been described as “the worst in the history of the Conservative Party”, say Mrs May will likely see out the talks to quit the EU.
This is despite the fact that Labour has overtaken the Tories in popularity following the shock general election result and four in 10 people think Theresa May should resign.
Research by Survation for Good Morning Britain gave Jeremy Corbyn’s party a three point lead over the Conservatives, as 44% of respondents backed Labour, 41% opted for the Tories, 6% for the Lib Dems and 2% for Ukip.
A similar Survation poll conducted over May 5-6 found that 47% of respondents would vote Conservative compared to 30% Labour.
Some 48% of people think Mrs May should remain Prime Minister, while 45% want her to resign amid intense scrutiny of her leadership following the Tories’ poor election result and the Grenfell Tower fire.
Mrs May was the party leader that most people trusted to negotiate the best Brexit deal, 52%, while 39% backed Mr Corbyn.
To describe Prime Minister Theresa May’s grasp on power as tenuous would be to overstate her position as she enters what will surely be the final days of her tenure at 10 Downing Street.
Since the disastrous Conservative manifesto launch during her unnecessary snap election, she has been increasingly isolated by senior members of her party and none offered solace publicly over the weekend.
The loss of her key advisors, fall-guys for the disastrous election, have left her with few places to turn.
She is being described as the “caretaker Prime Minister” as she stumbles from one public relations fiasco to the next.
Brexit negotiations due to start today will offer no relief to Mrs May.
It has been made perfectly clear by those on the EU side of the negotiating table that the process will not be kept secret, as the UK government would wish.
If, as it is suspected they will, the team led by David Davis goes into the crucial early exchanges with a flimsy plan and lack of tactical nous, we will quickly know and the finger of blame will be pointed firmly at the UK’s “difficult woman”.
It will be impossible to come back from another round of fiercely critical headlines and her party or, more likely, Mrs May herself, will have to make the hard decision. She is slated to remain in power at least two more years. She will be lucky to leave for her summer holiday still in post.