PM’s allies left picking up pieces over leadership gaffe

DAVID Cameron was forced to defend his decision to announce a sell-by date on his premiership yesterday as senior Tories accused him of trying to anoint George Osborne as his successor.

Downing Street was struggling to contain the fallout from the Prime Minister’s extraordinary announcement that May’s general election will be his last.

Friends dismissed rumours that Mr Cameron’s wife, Samantha, had asked him to make clear he would not seek a third term if reelected, while Mr Cameron insisted he had simply given a ‘straight answer to a straight question’ and that most people would think that was a ‘sensible’ thing to do.

As Labour accused him of ‘arrogance’ for discussing a third election before he wins a second, he insisted he was ‘taking absolutely nothing for granted’.

‘My entire focus is on the next 44 days and the general election that will decide which team runs the country for the next five years,’ Mr Cameron said.

But senior MPs warned that pre-announcing a departure before the 2020 election would inevitably undermine his authority if he remained in No 10.

It came as Mr Cameron was reminded of his comments to Tony Blair when the former premier announced he was handing over the reins to then-Chancellor Gordon Brown mid-term.

‘Your authority is draining away,’ he told Mr Blair in the Commons in January 2007.

‘The Government can’t plan. Ministers are treading water. They are all waiting for the Chancellor and not listening to you.’

One former shadow minister said that by indicating he will depart in the next Parliament, Mr Cameron appeared to be seeking to head off moves to oust him on May 8 if he falls short of a Commons majority and tries to lead another coalition or a minority government.

‘He may think it will be harder for the men in the grey suits to come knocking when he has said he won’t be going on and on,’ the MP said.

‘The truth is he won’t last five minutes, let alone five years, if he loses again.’

There was particular consternation that Mr Cameron effectively fired the starting gun on a leadership contest by naming three potential successors: Home Secretary Theresa

‘He won’t last five minutes if he loses’ HOW HE TAUNTED LAME DUCK BLAIR Your authority is draining away… the government can’t plan. Ministers are treading water

Mr Cameron in the Commons, 2007

May, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Mr Osborne, the Chancellor.

Mrs May and Mr Johnson have long been seen the leading rivals to be the next Tory leader, but Mr Cameron sparked frenzied speculation at Westminster by including his name of Mr Osborne, his closest ally. Since his unpopular Budget of 2012, Mr Osborne’s leadership prospects have been discounted by many. But the recent turnaround in his popularity as the economy improves has led many MPs to reconsider. Polls suggest Mr Osborne has become the most popular Conservative Treasury spokesman since Nigel Lawson in 1987.

‘Cameron has propelled George Osborne into the top three, quite deliberately,’ said one senior MP. ‘Whether that helps George or not remains to be seen.’

Another former minister said: ‘It’s not what he has said about timing – it’s the list of names. The Parliamentary party doesn’t really want any of them. Theresa May is a cold loner with a following of about two. George has been a good Chancellor of the Exchequer, but people resent his coterie of apparatchiks and think he is ultimately unelectable. Boris is another Bullingdon Club boy who ignored Parliament when he was last in it and lots of people think would be too risky.’

MPs also questioned how Mr Cameron could promise to serve a ‘ full second term’ when a new leader would need at least six months to establish themselves before the 2020 election. Some allies of the Prime Minister, however, suggest he could step down as party leader, allowing a contest to take place some months before, while remaining Prime Minister right up until polling day. While this would be unprecedented in modern British political history, it would mirror the American system, where a president serves a fixed second term.

Former Tory minister Michael Portil l o described Mr Cameron’s announcement as ‘bizarre’.

He told the BBC: ‘When you play chess you have to consider the next two moves, and I don’t think he did. There is no point setting off on this wild goose chase in the middle of an election campaign.’

But Defence Secretary Michael Fallon defended the Prime Minister. ‘He made very clear he is standing for a full second term. What happens in 2020 really, I think, doesn’t bother a lot of people,’ he said.

‘If he had said exactly the oppo- site – that he wanted to go on and on and he wasn’t prepared to answer the question when he was likely to finish – you’d have accused him, quite rightly, of arrogance and wanting term after term.’

A snap poll by ComRes for the Daily Mail found voters are divided over Mr Cameron’s announcement.

Some 70 per cent believe Mr Cameron was ‘just being honest’, while 80 per cent say ten years is long

enough for any Prime Minister to achieve their plans. Four in ten said he had made himself a lame duck, but the majority – 59 per cent – disagreed.

However, 70 per cent said he should be focusing on voters rather than his own job.

Four in ten think the next government would be destabilised by a Tory leadership election.

Mr Cameron said yesterday Tho- mas the Tank Engine was the television character he most identified with. In an i nterview with Netmums.com, Mr Cameron said: ‘He’s a British icon, he’s blue, he’s loyal and reliable – and he always saves the day.’ Lib Dems l eader Nick Clegg opted for Paddington Bear, while Labour’s Ed Miliband sees himself as Captain Barnacles.

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