Revealed: Davis ‘pushed’ May into Election disaster

A RELUCTANT Theresa May was bullied into calling the disastrous June snap Election by over-confident Brexit Secretary David Davis.

And when it ended in disaster, ‘distraught’ husband Philip feared his tearful wife may have to resign for the sake of her ‘wellbeing’.

These are just two of the bombshell disclosures in a new book about the Election.

Betting The House, by political journalists Tim Ross and Tom McTague, also claims:

Panicking May was close to quitting on Election night – until Boris Johnson promised not to force her out;

She denied that she was so shattered she wanted to throw in the towel;

Chancellor Philip Hammond was livid at being excluded from the Election campaign and regarded May’s manifesto as ‘economic degeneracy’.

Tory MPs will be shocked by the way the authors say moves to persuade May into gambling her fate on a surprise Election on June 8 were led by Davis, who ‘pushed’ her into it .

He was desperate to delay the next Election to stop the EU forcing him to accept a poor Brexit deal in 2019 – on the brink of an Election the following year. ‘Davis wanted an Election and set about getting one,’ says the book.

Davis told May’s Australian election guru Lynton Crosby: ‘No one is closer to Theresa May than I, and I, Philip Ham- mond and Theresa really run the country. I’m urging her to have an Election as early as possible. We’re well ahead in the polls and we’ll win.’

When a stunned Crosby disagreed, Davis bragged: ‘ I’m persuading her.’

Initially, May was also against the idea – as was her husband. ‘I’ve said before I don’t want this to happen and I’m concerned about how people will respond,’ she said.

The book lifts the lid on her despair on Election night. When her husband broke the news of the damning exit poll to her, ‘it took a minute for her to understand the scale of the disaster but, when she did, a devastated May broke down and wept’.

Her co- chief of staff Nick Timothy, who was forced to resign for his part in the Election, ‘ believed May herself should consider stepping down’ t o save her f rom ‘ vicious recriminations’. The book says Timothy was not alone. ‘Even husband Phi li p wondered whether she should resign.’

The book says May was so terrified Johnson would use the Election to oust her, she held up her phone in joy when he texted her his backing.

She knew she was finished if he did not support her.