THERESA May once wanted to abolish the same 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs that could now seal her fate as Prime Minister, because she saw it as “archaic” according to a former adviser.
May was not yet a minister when she decided that the backbench-only group did not reflect the modern Tory Party, says the source. The 1922 Committee, chaired by Sir Graham Brady, is the body that triggers votes of no confidence in Conservative leaders. If Brady receives enough letters of no confidence in the leader, the threshold for which is 15 per cent of the parliamentary party — cur- rently 48 letters — he must call a vote of no confidence. Last night Jacob ReesMogg said that he was closer than ever before to sending in his letter.
As her ministers resign, the proximate threat to May’s leadership is one that, if she had got her w a y, w o u l d no t now exist.
The ’22, as it’s known, is
DON we now our sparkly apparel: London is glittering as Christmas approaches. Designer Christopher Kane unveiled his bright new Christmas terrace at Scott’s in Mayfair last night, celebrating the launch with friends including models Edie Campbell and Lara Stone, who walked in his very first show. “I love Christmas: I love the glitz, I love the glamour”, he told The Londoner. Mercifully he has not yet started planning his celebrations, although “I have friends who have already done everything, which is depressing. I’m very last minute.”Among other guests at the restaurant was Amercian singer and hellraiser Courtney Love having a quiet dinner. Over at The Box in Soho, shimmering burlesque star Dita von Teese was the star guest of Absolut Elyx, and Betty Bachz, Naomi Harries and Jack Guinness sparkled at London’s Bargehouse on the South Bank, for this year’s Veuve ClicquotWidow Series.