Grassroots Tories turn on Theresa

THERESA May was last night warned she will face an unprecedented confidence vote from Tory activists unless she agrees to step down within weeks.

Andrew Sharpe, head of the party’s voluntary wing, is understood to have delivered the ultimatum during talks with Mrs May in No 10.

Mr Sharpe, chairman of the Conservatives’ national convention and deputy chairman of the party’s ruling board, is said to have warned the Prime Minister that disquiet in Tory ranks means he now has no choice but to call an emergency general meeting (EGM) of activists next month to discuss her future.

under party rules, such a meeting must be convened if the chairmen of more than 65 Tory associations demand one.

Mr Sharpe told Mrs May more than 70 chairmen had now written voicing no confidence in her following her failure to take Britain out of the Eu on time.

Any vote would not be binding because activists do not have the power to topple the party leader. But, with MPs also demanding she name a date for her departure, it would pile pressure on Mrs May to quit.

Downing Street last night confirmed the Prime Minister had met Mr Sharpe, who was seen entering No 10 with a letter, which he left with Mrs May.

Mr Sharpe did not respond to phone calls. But a senior Tory said: ‘ The threshold for an EGM has been passed and so Andrew has given the PM formal notice that one will now be held. It was inevitable.’

Dinah Glover, chairman of the London East Area Conservatives, said there was ‘despair in the party’ at Mrs May’s approach to Brexit. under Tory rules, the national convention must give 28 days’ notice of an EGM, meaning it cannot be held until the end of next month, after the May 23 European Parliament elections, which are expected to be a disaster for the party.

The EGM will involve the party’s 800 highest-ranking officers, including local constituency chairmen. Mr Sharpe’s intervention comes a week after the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs called on Mrs May to set out a timetable for her departure.

Mrs May has promised to step aside when her Brexit deal is approved by Parliament.

But with doubts growing over how long that could take – and Brexit delayed until the end of October – her critics are now demanding that she name a date for her exit regardless of whether or not her deal has been approved.

Mrs May faced a formal confidence vote from Tory MPs on December 12. She won the vote by 200 to 117, a margin of victory of 83. 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 December.

But MPs angry at the failure to leave the Eu and Mrs May’s talks with Jeremy Corbyn on a soft Brexit deal are calling on her to go. It came as sources warned talks may fall apart today if Labour activists force Mr Corbyn to agree to a second referendum in all circumstances.

Labour’s National Executive Committee is meeting today to agree a manifesto for the European Parliament elections.

The Labour leader is under intense pressure from Remainers in his party to include a commitment to a ‘confirmatory’ referendum on any Brexit deal.

A senior Tory source said: ‘If they commit to a confirmatory referendum on anything they agree with us, then it is going to be very difficult to continue.’

‘Despair in the party’