‘One more fumble and May is finished as Tory leader’
Resurgence of Labour could be on minds of Conservatives as a bigger threat than those within
WHEN Cabinet ministers gather at their party conference in Manchester next month, many are anticipating running the gauntlet of Jeremy Corbyn supporters screaming “Tory scum”.
But rather than greeting the occasion with trepidation, some ministers are privately looking forward to it.
They believe it will provide a timely reminder to those plotting to oust Theresa May of the real threat facing the party – the resurgence of socialism and Labour under Mr Corbyn.
“It’s not the time for a leadership contest,” one minister told The Sunday Telegraph. “The last thing we need at the Tory conference is another beauty parade ade with everyone attempting to give e the speech of their lives.
“The The Momentum activists shouting at us will give people a reminder of who o the real enemy is.”
Within the Conservative Party, the plotting tting and sedition is being put to one-side -side – for now. Last week, Mrs May, y, during a trip to Japan, announced her intention to stand again as leader of the party in 2022, channelling Margaret Thatcher as she insisted: “I’m not a quitter.”
The he announcement caught the party ty by surprise. No one, not evenn her closest Cabinet allies, had been expecting it.
Most of them, including Boris Johnson,nson, the Foreign Secretary who o had just landed in Nigeria, had been working on the assumption mption that she would stand asidede after Brexit in 2019.
Mrs May’s allies insisted that t the announcement was not planned.
Irritated rritated by reports that she had set a date for her departure ture on Aug 30 2019, she had merely been attempting to set et the record straight.
“She She looked at her leadership p rivals and thought, ‘If not me, then n who?’,” one friend of the Prime Minister nister said. “As soon as you send a signal nal you might not stay on as leader, your r authority evaporates.
“It It closes down speculation and throws ows down a gauntlet to her rivals. If they y really want the top job then they havee to challenge her, and nobody wants nts to be the knifeman. They remember mber the fate of Michael Heseltine.”
But ut among Tory MPs the reception has been lukewarm, mostly because few believe she can possibly stay on. Mrs May’s critics are now divided. A few believe that she must go now to atone for the disastrous election result – the majority will give her a “stay of execution” until after she has delivered Brexit. “The stakes are very high for her,” one David Davis ally said.
“If she has one more fumble, she’s finished. Even if she makes a spectacular success of Brexit, people won’t forgive her for the last election. The Conservative Party, not she, will decide when it’s time for her to go.”
Few Cabinet ministers have so far given their vocal support to Mrs May staying as Tory leader beyond 2022.
Mr Johnson said that Mrs May has his “undivided backing” and is “ideally placed” to make a success of Brexit, but stopped short of explicitly endorsing her as Tory leader in 2022.
One ally of Mr Johnson said: “Boris will be sanguine, his words last week were chosen carefully. She is safe for now but still at the mercy of parliamentary events. Even if she were to produce a blinder over Brexit, she’ll probably have to step away.”
In such a febrile climate, Mrs May knows that the next fortnight is critical. On Thursday, the second reading of the EU withdrawal bill – which scraps the European Communities Act of 1972 and transfers European laws on to Britain’s statute books – begins.
Ministers are increasingly worried that pro-European Tory MPs, emboldened by Mrs May’s failure to secure a majority, could join forces with Labour, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats to defeat the Government. It could take as few as seven Tory rebels to tip the balance.
Next Monday, Labour is planning to put forward a “reasoned amendment” – which sets out reasons to reject legislation – in a bid to stop the Government’s bill in its tracks. While few, if any, Tory MPs are likely to back the amendment, it will set the scene for a rebellion in October when the next stage of the bill comes into play and MPs can table amendments.
Such is Mrs May’s concern that Damian Green, her de facto deputy, warns in The Sunday Telegraph today that Conservative Europhiles must unite behind the Government’s plans or risk increasing the likelihood of Mr Corbyn gaining power.
There are two focal points for the Tory rebellion. One of the biggest concerns is the bill’s so-called “Henry VIII clauses”, which gives the Government the power to repeal or change laws without full legislative scrutiny.
At least half a dozen Tory MPs have indicated they could rebel over the issue. Ministers are also concerned that the 13 Tory MPs in Scotland could rebel over concerns that the Government will not devolve the powers it takes back from Europe.
“We’re going to have to give them something or they’ll be hung by their constituents,” a Conservative source said.
‘She looked at her leadership rivals and thought, if not me then who?’