Tory dossier on ‘ousting PM by April’

THE Prime Minister could be forced to stand down after Brexit according to a memo circulating among Tory MPs, it was claimed last night.

The document also assesses who Theresa May’s likely successor will be and rates their chances. It will be seen as a sign of how widely the leadership issue is being discussed among Conservative MPs.

The document is based on the assumption that the 1922 Committee of senior backbench Tories will ‘invite the PM to stand-down soon(ish) after March 2019’.

It advises MPs to ‘manoeuvre immediately’ and sets out details of 27 potential candidates, according to the Daily Telegraph. It describes Environment Secretary Michael Gove as being ‘on manoeuvres’, says Chancellor Philip hammond is ‘thinking he has a chance’ but has ‘not a hope’, while Trade Secretary Liam Fox’s prospects are ‘fading’.

Boris Johnson is described as ‘the front runner’ but is considered an unlikely sucahead

‘Branded totally unsuitable’

cessor because ‘the front runner never wins’ Jacob Rees-Mogg, chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tories, was not on the leaked list. however, he is seen as ‘the party’s favourite’ but ‘unlikely to succeed to the last two’. Former Brexit Secretary David Davis, the memo says, pretends ‘not to be interested, but is’ although it concludes he won’t succeed because it is ‘too late’.

Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom, who stood against Mrs May until her campaign imploded in 2016, is branded totally unsuitable in the dossier drawn up in April. home Secretary Sajid Javid is described as ‘wanting it’ but ‘trying to recover from Referendum positioning error’. Mr Javid, who was seen as an arch-Eurosceptic before the referendum campaign, backed Remain but has made more pro-Brexit noises since.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy hunt is described as a ‘dark horse, near the front of the pack coming up the rail’.

This is compared with John Major’s unlikely accession to the leadership of Michael heseltine and Douglas hurd after Margaret Thatcher resigned. Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is seen as having ‘discreet’ support among ERG members. health Secretary Matt hancock is ‘ambitious, hawkish on Syria with an eye on the party in the country’. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson is described as being ‘in full campaign mode, but very reliant on PM controlling her own departure point’.

Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is likened to Dr Fox in ‘being on manoeuvres’.