May on the brink as dozens more Tories back calls to oust her
● Up to 40 Tory MPS said to have signed letters of ‘no confidence’
Rebel Tory MPS are just eight votes short of forcing a leadership challenge that could oust Theresa May, it has been claimed.
As many as 40 Conservative backbenchers have reportedly signed letters saying they have no confidence in Mrs May’s leadership. It suggests the Tories could be on the brink of a coup attempt against the Prime Minister, following two cabinet resignation in the past fortnight, an ongoing scandal over sexual harassment allegations, and continued deadlock in Brexit talks.
One cabinet minister was quoted as saying the Conservative Party is “getting closer and closer to the point whereby we need some time in opposition to regroup”.
Under internal party rules, 15 per cent of Conservative MPS must back a motion of no-confidence to force a leadership contest. A previous flurry of letters, which are submitted to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, saw Grant Shapps outed by the Tory whips as the ringleader of a coup attempt against Mrs May.
With her leadership under severe pressure, EU leaders are understood to be preparing for the possibility that Mrs May could be ousted before Brexit talks are concluded.
Brexit Secretary David Davis ruled that out yesterday, saying he is “quite certain” she will remain Prime Minister throughout the negotiations.
He compared the “flurries” of challenges facing the government to the administrations of Winston Churchill and John Major.
“I suggest you have a look at Churchill’s government in the early 1940s before he went on to great success and won the war,” he told Sky News. “I served in John Major’s government for a long while and we had flurries then, to say the least. Tony Blair’s had flurries and actually David Cameron’s had flurries.”
The Brexit Secretary also said he would be “very surprised” if EU leaders are preparing for the fall of Mrs May’s government, a suggestion which has emerged following two Cabinet ministers resigning in recent days.
He added all governments have “issues that come up and go”, with Mrs May’s minority administration no different to those which have come before.
Meanwhile, Lord Saatchi, a former Tory party chairman, and Graham Brady, who chairs the 1922 committee, called on the Conservatives to harness the “zeal” of Margaret Thatcher and draw on the ideas of the most recent intakes of MPS to prevent a Jeremy Corbyn government.
They warned “the wrong ideas are winning” because “British people think that business can’t be trusted”.