I need to shape up
May to admit failings & tell party to put focus on ‘ordinary people’
THERESA May will today admit that she needs to “shape up” if she is to stay on as Prime Minister.
In a candid speech following months of speculation on her future, she will also blast top Conservatives for concentrating on party plotting rather than focusing on “ordinary working people”.
And she will order her team to “give the country the government it needs”.
Mrs May’s make-or-break speech on the final day of the Tory Party conference comes after Boris Johnson yesterday insisted the “whole Cabinet is united” behind her.
She will tell delegates in Manchester: “Beyond this hall, beyond the gossip pages of the papers and beyond the streets, corridors and meeting rooms of Westminster, life continues – the daily lives of ordinary working people go on. And they must be our focus today.
“Not worrying about our job security but theirs. Not addressing our concerns but the issues, the problems, the challenges that concern them. Not focusing on our future but on the future of their children and their grandchildren. So let us do our duty by Britain.
“Let us shape up and give the country the Government it needs.”
Mrs May’s message will be seen as a last throw of the dice in her bid to cling on to power. She has faced days of infighting at the party conference as the fallout from her botched election campaign domi- nated the event. But the Foreign Secretary threw her an unlikely lifeline yesterday – even after she snubbed his keynote speech. Mr Johnson, whose Brexit “red lines” led to calls for his sacking, defended her poll performance.
He told delegates: “You won – we won. Theresa May won. She took this party to its highest share of the vote in any election in 25 years – and the country owes her a debt for her steadfastness in taking Britain forward as she will to a great Brexit deal. The whole Cabinet is united.”
Bookies Ladbrokes later slashed the odds on Mr Johnson being the next Tory leader to just 4/1 – making him the favourite, ahead of David Davis at 5/1.
Last night, Mrs May insisted he had not undermined her, saying that she did not want “yes men” in her Cabinet.
And in an interview with Channel 4 News, she insisted the job of PM was not making her miserable – despite her disastrous year.
Speaking to Five News, she also expressed frustration at her depiction as “the Maybot” during the election because of her wooden performances.
The PM said: “I’m certainly somebody with feelings. I don’t recognise that characterisation of myself.”
Meanwhile, on the third day of the conference Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt promised 5,000 new training places for nurses.
And International Development Secretary Priti Patel unveiled new conditions on foreign aid spending that are intended to prevent fatcats monopolising contracts.