Most people want me to get on with the job, says PM
THERESA MAY has insisted she has public support to stay in Downing Street for five more years after criticism from some of her own MPS for vowing to fight another election.
The Prime Minister was accused of hubris after she said on Wednesday that she had every intention of leading the Conservatives into the 2022 election as she is “not a quitter”.
One government source said it was a “ludicrous proposition”. Grant Shapps, the former Tory party chairman, said she could not “jump straight” from a “disastrous” election campaign to saying she wanted to contest another, suggesting she was still on probation.
Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, said it would be “difficult” for Mrs May to lead the party into another poll, while Lord Heseltine, the former trade secretary, said she had no “long-term” future as leader.
Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former adviser, said the remarks could look “self-indulgent” and came too soon after the poor election result. Mr Oliver, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, added that it was not something he would have advised a prime minister do.
Speaking at a press conference in Japan, Mrs May hit back at her critics in the party, saying: “Most members of the public would say they want the Government to get on with the job and that’s exactly what my Government and I are doing.”
Mrs May had surprised her own MPS by telling the media she wanted to fight another election, as many of them had believed she would step down in 2019 following Britain’s withdrawal from the EU. Downing Street sources yesterday described the bold move as a “confident statement” from the Prime Minister, who clearly has renewed belief in her own leadership after surviving the summer unchallenged.
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, who is regarded as the most likely Cabinet minister to challenge her for the leadership, said Mrs May had his “undivided backing”. She also received a vote of confidence from Nigel Evans, a member of the backbench 1922 Committee’s executive.
Four days after losing her majority in the snap election she had called, Mrs May told the 1922 Committee she would stay on as leader for as long as the party wanted her to, adding to the impression that she knew her time was limited. But Mr Evans said he was “very content” with Mrs May’s comments, adding “if she makes a success of Brexit of course she deserves to stay on”, while another party grandee said there was no desire for a leadership election and her remarks reflected that.
Mr Shapps told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The truth is we ran a very poor election. You can’t go pretending it wasn’t anything other than a disastrous result, of course it was, and you can’t jump straight from that to ‘I’ll go on forever’. You have got to have an inbetween stage and that means action. The in-between stage is delivering on some of the stuff we need to deliver.”
Lord Heseltine said: “The long term is the difficult one for Theresa May because I don’t think she has got a long term. I think that we face a general election in a couple of years.”
One Cabinet minister said Mrs May couldn’t have said anything else in response to the question but warned if the party loses confidence in her leadership she will be forced out anyway.
Meanwhile, the London Evening Standard, which is now edited by George Osborne, the former Chancellor, branded Mrs May a “horror show” and likened her decision to stay on to the politics of North Korea.