The Tories are having a nervous breakdown. They need to get a grip

FOR many Prime Ministers there comes a point when they suddenly lose their authority and become the victim of events rather than their architect. Labour’s Harold Wilson was never the same after he was humiliatingly forced to devalue the pound in 1967. His successor, Edward Heath, lost political credibility for nationalising the almost-bankrupt RollsRoyce — a decision which meant abandoning the Tories’ free market principles.

Even Margaret Thatcher, the greatest British Prime Minister of the modern era, finally lost her authority over the flawed introduction of the poll tax.

I believe historians may conclude that the first week of November 2017 was the point when Theresa May lost her control of the Tory Party. The brutal truth is she looks utterly beleaguered in the wake of a series of allegations about ‘inappropriate’ sexual conduct of a number of her ministers.

There is an irony here. Mrs May’s personal behaviour has been faultless. This vicar’s daughter’s character is rooted — as voters realise — in decent moral values. Moreover, these traditional principles, it should be said, are better appreciated by the wider electorate than they are in the less moral environment of Westminster.

Nevertheless, Mrs May has not handled the crisis well. And I would stress that there is no evidence from his past record that Jeremy Corbyn would have tackled such a problem with better judgement. Indeed, Labour’s handling of allegations of sexual impropriety against one of its own MPs has been nothing less than disgraceful.

Despite being given several warnings about the conduct of 76-year- old Kelvin Hopkins, who is said to have sent inappropriate text messages to a 24-year-old party activist, Corbyn blithely promoted him to a senior front bench job.

No wonder Jess Phillips MP said her party has failed to treat allegations of sexual misconduct seriously enough.

Much more disturbingly, the most serious allegation since the Westminster sex scandal erupted involves the appalling way Labour officials hushed up allegations that a young party activist was raped by a senior colleague at a Labour event.

But as Prime Minister, the spotlight has inevitably been on Mrs May’s reaction to the drip, drip, drip of allegations, accusations and the witch-hunt inspired by social media.

Sadly, along with the Tories generally, Mrs May seems to have lost her sense of priorities. The fact is that the Tort Party has succumbed to a bout of collective hysteria and needless infighting.

Most shocking of all is the treachery of Andrea Leadsom, one of the Cabinet’s more senior members. There is no reason to doubt her claim that Tory colleague Sir Michael Fallon made some deeply unpleasant remarks to her when they were both on the Treasury Select Committee between 2010 and 2012.

BUT if Mrs Leadsom was so offended, why, as a seasoned political streetfighter, didn’t she either give Fallon a piece of her mind or lodge an official complaint then? Why did she wait five years — for a moment when her ministerial career was in the balance and she reckoned on being able to inflict the maximum damage?

For her part, it looks as if a weak Mrs May has allowed her junior colleague to force the resignation of one of her most senior and valued ministers and, more worryingly, sabotage her government.

Veteran Tory MP Gary Streeter has remarked that the May government is starting to remind him of the John Major administration of the mid-Nineties — mired by sleaze allegations and infighting over Europe.

He has a point. Increasingly, Mrs May looks like the leader of a rudderless government — also split over Europe and brought low by a series of sleaze scandals.

She risks being outflanked by an invigorated Labour Opposition — even though its economic policies are reckless and it faces much more serious charges with regard to the Westminster sex scandal.

Tragically, Mrs May seems incapable of dealing proportionately with the string of allegations or with her disloyal and treacherous colleagues. Why has the PM allowed the serially dissident backbencher Anna Soubry to indulge in what has been nothing less than a damaging and contemptible running commentary in public about the Government — regularly spitting bile and rebuking the leadership.

Also, we witnessed fellow Remainer Ken Clarke arrogantly cocking a snook at Mrs May by joining arch- Europhiles Nick Clegg and Labour’s Lord Adonis on a trip to the European Commission’s HQ in Brussels that was seen as a blatant attempt to undermine Brexit. No leader should allow such treachery.

It must never be forgotten that disloyalty and backbiting during the Major years resulted in the Tories’ catastrophic election defeat in 1997, leading to the Conservatives being out of power for the next 13 years. No, the party needs to pull itself out of this nervous breakdown that is convulsing it. Talk of a leadership challenge is madness.

Indeed, this week’s treachery of Mrs Leadsom — and remember, she still sees herself as a future party leader — is a vivid warning that to get rid of Mrs May would result in a catastrophic bloodletting that would hand Mr Corbyn the keys to No.10.

Of course all this is manna from heaven for all those who want a second Eu referendum and don’t seem to mind if Britain is damaged in the process.

But not all is doom and gloom. There is a possible way back for Mrs May. She must build on that hard core of public support for her personal decency and devise a strategy that will seize back the initiative and see her through to the next election in 2022.

That means keeping the economy healthy, delivering Brexit and reminding voters of the profound dangers of a Corbyn government.

This can be achieved by a bold Budget and a wide- ranging Cabinet reshuffle that gets rid of traitors and plotters. Theresa May has had similar opportunities in the past — but fluffed them. She is running out of last chances.