May in No 10 peace talks with ‘terrace rage’ Tories
After snubbed MPs’ astonishing revolt...
THERESA MAY has mounted a charm offensive aimed at unhappy Tory backbenchers after an outbreak of ‘terrace rage’ by MPs who were passed over for jobs in her new Government.
The Prime Minister summoned the malcontents to oneon-one meetings in Downing Street after being informed of extraordinary scenes in Parliament last week. A group of MPs who had missed out on promotion were said to have ‘flung’ their security passes at a Government whip.
Six Parliamentary Private Secretaries – ministerial bagcarriers on the first rung of the career ladder – told Jackie Doyle-Price to ‘chuck’ the passes, which gave them access to their Ministers’ departments.
The group, including Alec Shelbrooke, MP for Elmet and Rothwell in West Yorkshire, had gathered on a sweltering Commons terrace on Monday evening, the day after Mrs May had finished her reshuffle.
Infuriated, they complained to Mrs Doyle-Price that they had been promised that the next promotions would come from within their ranks – only to see 17 rivals leapfrog them and go straight from the backbenches into government.
One MP present told The Mail on Sunday: ‘It had been a long, hot weekend waiting for the jobs to be announced. Then, when they were announced, we felt completely betrayed.’
Beckenham MP Bob Stewart also thought the reshuffle had been mishandled. He said: ‘This is not a f***ing Sunday school. You need to have the best people in the most important jobs, and I don’t think that was the case with this reshuffle.’
Shortly after word of the incident reached Downing Street, hand-picked MPs who had not won promotion received invitations for meetings with the Prime Minister, at which they were assured they were ‘valued’. One who was summoned to No 10 said: ‘She was extremely charming. I felt mollified.’
With a majority of only 12 – and powerful former Ministers such as ex-Chancellor George Osborne and ex-Justice Secretary Michael Gove now just ordinary MPs – Mrs May will have to work hard to prevent discontent boiling over on the backbenches.
She is already gaining a reputation for ruthlessness, with a number of Ministers’ special advisers – known as ‘spads’ – complaining that they have been blacklisted by the new regime because of past political differences.
Asked about the terrace incident, Mr Shelbrooke, who was PPS to Priti Patel at the Department for Work and Pensions before she was promoted to International Development Secretary, said: ‘I would say we handed our passes over rather than flung them. Six years as a PPS is long enough for me.’
DOTCOM entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox and ex-Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown came together yesterday to launch a new ‘progressive’ political movement. Named
‘They saw rivals leapfrog them’
More United.uk, it says it will aim to use the power of the internet to raise financial backing for ‘moderate, progressive candidates for Parliament’.
With the turmoil in the Labour Party showing no signs of abating, some MPs suspect the new movement may be the first step towards the creation of a new centre-Left party.