THERESA’S STAY OF EXECUTION
Party WON’T change rules to depose her ... but demand she says when she’s going
THERESA May was given a stay of execution last night after senior Tories rejected plans that could have seen her forced from office within weeks.
In a significant setback for Mrs May’s Brexiteer critics, the ruling executive of the 1922 Committee of MPs blocked a bid to change the leadership rules to allow a fresh vote of confidence in her.
Sources on the committee said the plan, which was championed by Eurosceptics furious at her failure to deliver Brexit, was narrowly defeated by nine votes to seven.
Instead, the committee agreed to ask the Prime Minister to set out a ‘timetable’ for her departure. No10 last night gave no indication of when Mrs May would respond – or if she would agree to name a date for departure.
One senior Brexiteer said the committee had ‘bottled it’. Mrs May has promised to step aside when her Brexit deal is approved by Parliastances’. ment. But with doubts over how long that could take – and Brexit now delayed until the end of October – her critics are demanding that she names a date for her departure regardless of whether her deal is approved.
Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, said Tory MPs wanted a ‘clear road-map forward’ about Mrs May’s future ‘in all circumShe faced a vote of no confidence in December after the number of Tory MPs demanding one reached 48 – the number required to trigger a contest.
Mrs May won the vote by 200 to 117, and 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’, meaning she cannot be challenged until this December.
But Eurosceptic MPs angry over her failure to leave the EU and the decision to open talks with Jeremy Corbyn have led to pressure to change the rules.
Under one proposal discussed last night, the ‘ grace period’ would have been cut to six months, allowing a fresh challenge on June 12.
The drive for change was led by senior Brexiteers, with the 1922 Committee’s executive secretary Nigel Evans saying that the process for selecting a new leader ‘can’t start soon enough’.
Pauline Latham, another committee member, yesterday backed the call, saying: ‘I would like Theresa May to go. I would like us to have a new leader who could have another look at this whole process and actually negotiate with Brussels.’
But other senior Tories railed at the idea of ripping up the rulebook to give Brexiteer MPs another chance to topple her. Former minister Robert Halfon said: ‘We are the Conservative Party – not some kind of Stalinist party who change the rules in order to have a show trial.
‘Things are difficult at the moment, but we have to get on with the job. We have got council elections next week, we have got Brexit to deliver – we need to stop squabbling with each other and concentrate on that.’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘Changing the prime minister will not change what we need to do to deliver Brexit.’
The decision to reject the rule change was greeted with relief in Downing Street last night. But sources said the PM would have to consider the request for a resignation timetable.
Allies insisted she was not trying to cling to office, but believed she had a duty to deliver Brexit.
One said: ‘There is a great irony in the fact she is facing these calls when she is saying she accepts there must be new leadership for the next phase and is actively trying to bring that about by delivering Brexit.’
Last night’s decision may only prove to be a stay of execution if the forthcoming local and European elections turn out badly for the Tories. Former leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘I think it’s inconceivable that the Prime Minister would go on beyond the beginning of the summer break, it’s just not feasible, because there is a window for a future leader to be elected and that is in the summer.’
Downing Street yesterday said Mrs May was still considering bringing back her deal – perhaps as soon as next week – in the hope of avoiding European elections on May 23. Labour sources indicated they would continue to oppose the legislation.
FAILURE to take Britain out of the EU on time has left Theresa May the most unpopular Tory minister ever, a poll of party activists found.
The survey by the Conservative Home website gave her a net satisfaction rating of minus 73.5, down from minus 51.2 the previous month.
Commons leader Andrea Leadsom was the most popular with 40.6.