Tears at 1922 as May gives dignified speech on her future
Prime Minister announces she will step down if MPS vote in support of her Withdrawal Agreement
THE 1922 meeting was so packed that one late arrival – Penny Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary – was left standing in the House of Commons committee corridor, trying to listen through the keyhole.
Inside the cavernous committee room 14 in the Palace of Westminster, Theresa May, the Prime Minister, was about to signal that she will quit in the summer if her deal to take Britain out of the European Union is passed.
The room was the very same one where the fate of Margaret Thatcher had been sealed by her own MPS in a leadership election in November 1990.
The first indication that Mrs May might resign emerged during Prime Minister’s Questions, when Ian Blackford, the SNP’S Westminster leader, suggested Mrs May would quit to get her deal agreed. Mrs May failed to answer directly and instead spoke of a “sense of responsibility and duty that has meant I have kept working to ensure that we deliver on the result of the British people”.
MPS immediately knew something was up. By 5pm more than 300 Tory MPS were crammed into the committee room for Mrs May.
David Davis sat on the floor. Boris Johnson stood at the back. Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, broke the tension, opening the meeting by reading out the traditional “business of next week”, which included draft legislation on pesticides. MPS jokingly shouted: “More, more!”
MPS gossipped about what Mrs May would do. One idea was to confirm that Olly Robbins, her chief negotiator, would be sacked from the team leading the Brexit talks.
One MP said: “People were expecting her to announce it, they just were not sure what form it would take.”
Mrs May swept in at 5.05pm, ready to make public a decision she had wrestled with for several days. MPS listened in solemn silence.
Reading from notes, she said: “This has been a testing time for our country and our party. We’re nearly there. We’re almost ready to start a new chapter and build that brighter future.
“But before we can do that, we have to finish the job in hand. As I say, I don’t tour the bars and engage in the gossip, but I make time to speak to colleagues, and I have a great team in the Whips’ Office. I also have two excellent PPSS.
“And I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party. I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won’t stand in the way of that.
“I know some people are worried that if you vote for the Withdrawal Agreement, I will take that as a mandate a former said she “wanted to give thanks to the PM for what she has done both as party leader and as a friend”.
The desired effect of Mrs May’s statement was almost immediate. Two Eurosceptic Conservative MPS – James Gray and Richard Bacon – stood up to tell her in person that they would now back her deal.
The tone of the questions soon turned to her legacy. One MP said: “People started talking almost in the past tense about her premiership. They were grateful for what the Prime Minister had done. They realised that her legacy was the important thing for her, too. There was real warmth towards the Prime Minister.”
The only MP to go against the grain at the meeting was Mark Francois, vice chairman of the anti-eu European Research Group, who pleaded with the Prime Minister to allow her Cabinet ministers to vote on having a second EU referendum in last night’s indicative votes.
Simon Hart, Tory MP for Carmarthen
later: “People had been ripping lumps out of each other for weeks, and when it comes to that kind of moment they were respectful.”
Mr Hart said Mrs May was “passionate” but kept her emotions in check. “She was as animated and emotional as I have heard her in any 1922 meeting. Neither the PM nor the Chief Whip were crying,” he said.
“She was passionate about getting the deal through, about keeping the party together, about keeping the Government as the Government and about keeping Jeremy Corbyn out of No10. It felt like someone had torn up the script and had given a speech from the heart.”
Claire Perry, the energy minister, said: “The PM spoke with her usual dignity and strength. This is a terribly sad day.” Sir Nicholas Soames said her speech had been “commanding”.
Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, praised Mrs May’s “dignified and honest speech”, adding: “She cares deeply about our country and is a patriot. People must now support the deal and move us forward.”
Jacob Rees-mogg, the chairman of the European Research Group, said: “I thought the way she did it was exceptionally gracefully. I was glad she was able to do it with such dignity and such warmth from MPS. I admired her manner of announcing her departure.”
Despite Mr Rees-mogg yesterday declaring he would support Mrs May’s deal, he last night appeared to do another u-turn, telling ITV’S Robert Peston that if the DUP cannot be won over by the deal, he “will support the DUP”.
Therein lies Mrs May’s problem. Last night the chances of her deal passing through the Commons took a hammer blow with the DUP’S 10 MPS saying they would vote against her deal, and a hard core of Tory MPS determined to carry on opposing.
Mrs May had made her decision about her future as Prime Minister and Tory leader to save her Brexit deal.
Only time will tell whether it will all be in vain.