THERESA May has insisted she has the full support of her cabinet, and that she will carry on providing the country with “calm leadership.”
The plot against the Prime Minister went public yesterday, when former Tory party chairman Grant Shapps said he was leading the resistance to her leadership.
He claimed to have a list with the names of 30 of his fellow MPs, including five former cabinet ministers, who wanted May to do the decent thing and stand down.
READ MORE: Who is likely to be the next Tory leader, after Theresa May goes?
Shapps is not the most liked or trusted MP in Westminster. He was caught lying about using pseudonyms, and having a second job.
But it’s clear he’s not operating alone, and that there are others in the party who want May to go.
Shapps told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the party was trying to fix its problems by burying “our heads in the sand”.
“I believe Theresa May is very decent person and unfortunately fought an election that didn’t work out,” he said.
He added: “There’s that sort of lack of discipline in the cabinet and party conference this week and I think a growing number of my colleagues realise the solution isn’t to bury our heads in the sand and hope things will get better. It never got better for [Gordon] Brown and [John] Major and I don’t think it’s going to work out here either.”
Shapps said he had hoped to speak to the prime minister privately, but his party whips told The Times, seemingly hoping by naming him publicly, it would kill the plotting outright.
He said he was supported by Brexiteers and Remainers.
“The reality is most people are looking at this and saying, ‘Hold on a minute, let’s not bury our heads in the hands.’
“I say most, it’s not most because you’ve got a very large payroll of people who are essentially paid to be in the cabinet. But people who are dispassionate and look at this realise probably the time is to have a leadership election.”
Asked if cabinet ministers were loyal to the Prime Minister, he said: “In private not all of them.”
Speaking to reporters in her Maidenhead constituency, May said she had had a cold all week, and that she wasn’t worried about any plot.
“Now, what the country needs is calm leadership, and that’s what I’m providing, with the full support of my cabinet,” she said.
She added: “And next week I’m going to be updating MPs on my Florence speech, which has given real momentum to the Brexit talks.
“And I will also be introducing a draft bill to cap energy prices, which will stop ordinary working families from being ripped off.”
Asked about the possibility that her own MPs could force a leadership contest, she said: “What I think is necessary for the country now, what the country needs, is calm leadership. That’s exactly what I’m providing, and I’m providing that with the full support of my cabinet.”
Charles Walker, the vice-chairman of the influential Tory backbench 1922 Committee, dismissed Shapps’s claims: “No 10 must be delighted that it’s Grant Shapps leading this alleged coup.
“Grant has many talents but one thing he doesn’t have is a following in the party, so really I think this is going to fizzle out to be perfectly honest.
“What you’re seeing here is the coalition of disappointed people who think their brilliant political talents have not been fully recognised. It doesn’t reflect well on them and it doesn’t reflect well on Grant Shapps.”
Environment Secretary Michael Gove also rushed to the defence of May: “No one is burying their heads in the sand. What we’re doing is concentrating on delivering and governing effectively. The critical thing is the PM has been doing a fantastic job. She showed an amazing degree of resilience and courage this week, of a piece with the fantastic leadership she’s shown throughout the time she has been prime minister.
“The truth is the overwhelming majority of Conservative MPs, the truth is the entirety of the cabinet, the truth is the overwhelming majority of people, want the prime minister to concentrate on doing the job that 14 million people elected her to do earlier this year.”
Another minister, speaking to The Sun anonymously, said: “Getting rid of her is like going to the dentist. You keep putting it off because it’s going to be painful, but you know you have to do it eventually.”
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