Tell us when you’re going, Theresa, or face contest in weeks

Amid talks on changing leadership rules, men in grey suits warn PM:

thERESA May was last night warned she could face a fresh leadership challenge within weeks unless she sets out a timetable for her departure.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee of tory MPs, met Mrs May for private talks in Downing Street ahead of a meeting to discuss changing the leadership rules to allow a fresh contest.

Neither Sir Graham nor No 10 would comment on what happened in the meeting.

But a tory source said Sir Graham warned Mrs May he was under mounting pressure from MPs to find a way to allow another vote of no confidence unless she names an exit date.

‘Graham believes it would be much better if she went on her own terms,’ the source said. ‘he wants her to get a dignified exit.

‘But he is receiving a lot of representations from MPs and the wider party that she must go now. that’s the message he was passing on.’

in a further blow to Mrs May, Conservative Central Office was last night informed she could face a symbolic vote on her future by disgruntled local party chairmen. An ally of Mrs May pointed out that she had already offered to step down this summer if MPs pass her Brexit deal. ‘if she can get a deal through Parliament, she will step down,’ they said. ‘this is not someone clinging to office, this is someone trying to do her duty.’ Members of the 1922 Committee’s 18- strong executive met at a secret location in Westminster last night to discuss a possible rule change to allow a new confidence vote.

Mrs May faced a formal vote on December 12 after the number of tory MPs demanding it rose to 48, the level required to trigger a contest. She won the vote by 200 to 117. the party’s existing rules state that if a leader wins, ‘no vote of confidence shall be called for a period of at least 12 months’.

But Eurosceptic MPs angry at the failure to leave, and Mrs May’s decision to open talks with Jeremy Corbyn, have led to pressure to change the rules.

Under one proposal due to be discussed last night, the ‘grace period’ would be cut to six months, allowing a challenge on June 12.

Nigel Evans, executive secretary of the Committee, yesterday said the process for selecting a new leader ‘can’t start soon enough’.

he said: ‘i believe the only way we’re going to break this impasse properly is if we have fresh leadership of the Conservative Party.’

But other senior figures publicly resisted the idea of a rule change.

Alec Shelbrooke, another member of the committee, said it would only encourage those pressing for a second referendum on Brexit.

‘the idea that if we change the leader, everything changes... the maths in the Commons is still the same,’ he said. ‘We should be concentrating on getting this Brexit deal through so we can leave.’

A senior 1922 Committee source said: ‘there is deep reluctance on the part of many to start messing with the rules, because that will affect not just this Prime Minister but all future ones as well.’

Meanwhile, the Conservative home website last night reported that 65 tory chairmen had now signed a petition calling for an extraordinary general meeting of the party’s National Convention to discuss Mrs May’s future. the number hits the threshold required for a meeting.

Dinah Glover, who started the petition, said: ‘We hope the Prime Minister will recognise that she is unfortunately no longer the solution to the problem, but is actually the block to Brexit.’