May gone by July: PM agrees to set exit date
THERESA May last night bowed to Conservative demands to agree a timetable that will see her quit before the end of July.
Following a ‘tense’ and ‘frank’ 90minute meeting between the prime Minister and senior Tories, sources said Mrs May had agreed to resign in time for the party to elect a new leader for its September conference.
The decision paves the way for a Tory leadership contest to begin in earnest.
Mrs May resisted pressure to name a date for her departure yesterday, arguing it would undermine her fragile authority still further as she prepares for a fourth and final attempt to pass her Brexit deal next month.
But sources said she was ‘realistic’ about the party’s demand for fresh leadership.
In a statement agreed with No 10, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, said Mrs May was ‘determined to secure our departure from the EU’ and devoting her efforts in the coming days to passing her Brexit deal, which will be voted on by Mps in the week beginning June 3.
He added: ‘We have agreed that she and I will meet following the second reading of the bill to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader.’
Sir Graham said discussions in Mrs May’s Commons office had been ‘very
‘She doesn’t want to go’
frank’. Some committee members urged Mrs May to quit immediately – and told her they were willing to change the party’s rulebook to force her out.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Bob Blackman, the committee’s executive secretary, said: ‘If she doesn’t give us a clear timetable, it will be set for her.’ Mr Blackman later said he was ‘satisfied’ with the outcome.
others, including Sir Graham, urged her to bow out with ‘dignity’ in the coming weeks rather than force them to mount a coup. A committee source last night told the Mail that Mrs May would step down by the end of July.
‘That is the backstop date,’ the source said. ‘The mood on the committee was for her to go much more quickly.
‘It was a tense meeting – difficult at times – because she doesn’t want to go. But she has accepted she is going to have to step down this summer so that we have a new leader in place by September.’
Another member of the committee said Mrs May was ‘incredibly frustrated’ at the prospect of stepping down without having delivered Brexit. But sources denied reports that she had been close to tears.
Mrs May told members the party risked choosing the wrong leader if she was forced out before Britain’s departure.
An ally said: ‘She told them it would be a much better contest if you have got the first stage of Brexit out of the way because then you can look to the future. If we are out, you can look at how you renew the party in office to take on Jeremy Corbyn, you can talk about things that are not Brexit and have a proper debate about where the party should be going.’
Tory activists last night warned they would press ahead with a noconfidence motion at an extraordinary meeting of the party’s National Convention on June 15 – unless Mrs May has announced her resignation by then.
Dinah Glover, chairman of london East Area Conservatives, said the leadership contest ‘needs to start straight away, with the pM stepping down immediately’. Downing Street said Mrs May was now focused on trying to pass the withdrawal agreement bill, which would put her Brexit deal in law. Commons leader Andrea leadsom confirmed that Mps will be asked to vote on it in the week beginning June 3. With Mrs May due to host Donald Trump and mark the 75th anniversary of DDay in Normandy that week, Westminster sources said the most likely date was Friday, June 7.