Leader seeks to quell doubts within party
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May, recovering from a dismal performance at her Conservative Party’s annual conference and a rare public threat to her leadership, says she’s not backing down in the face of political adversity.
“I am a very determined person,” she told the Sunday Times. “I am not someone who gives up.”
The same applies to her determination to fight back Conservative Party doubts about her leadership. May’s grip on the party’s loyalty has been weakened by its poor performance in the snap election she called for June, which cost the Conservative Party its majority status and strengthened the hand of Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Former Prime Minister John Major urged Conservative Party members to support May and scolded those who have plotted against her.
“I urge all Conservative (lawmakers) to reflect very carefully on what is at stake,” he wrote in the Daily Mail. “The country has had enough of the self-absorbed disloyal behavior we have witnessed for weeks.”
Major’s comments were viewed by some as a warning to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who while publicly backing May has twice proposed his own policies on the delicate Brexit negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with the European Union.
May is reported to be considering a Cabinet shakeup in the coming weeks. Some are pressuring her to demote Johnson from his highly visible post of foreign secretary.