David Davis ‘too old’ to lead the Conservatives

Johnson and Gove throw their support behind the PM as leadership rivals are accused of playing games

DAVID DAVIS is too old to lead the Conservative Party and will be incapable of uniting the Tories during Brexit negotiations, friends of Boris Johnson have said.

The 68-year-old Brexit Secretary is being touted as a potential successor to Theresa May in the event that she decides to step down.

However, allies of Mr Johnson said that people have “short-term memories” and highlighted Mr Davis’s failed leadership bid in 2005, when he lost to David Cameron.

One MP said: “Davis is playing games to try to force Boris’s hand. It’s not going to work. This is too big a moment to play games. All this speculation just undermines Theresa. The party needs to get behind her.”

Another ally of Mr Johnson said: “People have short-term memories. They see David as a steady hand but forget he lost to David Cameron in 2005 and has previously resigned.

“He’s also the man that pushed the Prime Minister into holding a snap election in the first place. Age is not a barrier but he is nearly 70. You have got to look at that as a factor.”

An MP who supports Mr Davis last night hit back at Mr Johnson, accusing him of “game playing” and warning that he will “pay a heavy price for it”.

The MP said: “Boris Johnson is on permanent manoeuvres for the leadership, he has been for the last 10 years.

“David Davis is totally focused on the job he has got to do, delivering Brexit. He is not interested in this game playing. It’s disgraceful. I don’t think the country or party wants it.”

In June 2008, Mr Davis resigned as an MP and lost his post as shadow home secretary to highlight his concerns about the erosion of civil liberties. He won the subsequent by-election.

Mrs May is under increasing pressure after the Conservatives’ disastrous performance at the general election. When asked about her potential successor by Tory MPS, she said that she is “getting on with the job”.

It was claimed at the weekend that up to a dozen Tory backbenchers are ready to demand a vote of no confidence in Mrs May by submitting letters to Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench MPS.

However, Mr Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, both yesterday defended her.

The Foreign Secretary phoned into BBC Radio 4’s Today programme from Brussels for an unscheduled interview. Asked if he expects Mrs May to stay, Mr Johnson said: “My strong feeling is that the last thing the electorate wants is more elections or more political shenanigans of one kind or another. There’s a huge task to get on with Brexit.”

Mr Gove, who has recently returned to the Cabinet, also told the programme that Mrs May would deliver Brexit.

“I think that there’s support across the Conservative Party for Theresa, and also support for the position that she outlined before, during and after the election,” he said.

It comes after some allies of Mr Johnson told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Davis would be a “serious contender” for the leadership. They suggested he could be the “perfect tonic” against a resurgent Labour, adding that unlike Mr Johnson he is not tainted by the Leave promise to spend £350million on the NHS after Brexit.