THERESA May could be on the brink of calling a snap General Election. Reports suggest the vote could come within the next four weeks.

Yesterday it was revealed that at least nine Government ministers, three of whom are in the Cabinet, had told their constituency associations to prepare for an early election. And in Whitehall, the UK’s most senior civil servant has told colleagues who head Government departments to get ready.

According to the New Statesman, the vote could come as soon as February 28. The magazine said one minister, who holds a marginal seat in the south, had “already designed and written their election address”.

The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act means the next poll should not take place until 2022, but with Labour’s Brexit policy revolving around a General Election, it’s likely Theresa May could rely on Jeremy Corbyn’s support to unpick the act in the Commons.

One association chair, says they were told by their Tory MP that that the only way to square that circle would be an election.

Another was reportedly told that the only May could get enough support for her Withdrawal Deal would be to make a compromise that would lose her support of the DUP.

Earlier this week Britain’s most senior civil servant, Cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill, met Government department heads and ordered them to get ready for an election in case one is needed to break the political deadlock.

Downing Street said May had ruled out a General Election.

Meanwhile, Government minister Penny Mordaunt took to Twitter yesterday to suggest a no-deal Brexit might not be that bad.

Responding to a tweet from the journalist Hugo Rifkind asking why the audience on Question Time audience had cheered the prospect of no-deal, she said “they might have judged that the upsides of leaving outweigh the downsides of staying/No Deal disruption” or that “it’s only when ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ is believed by the EU that we’ll maximise our chance of a deal”. She said the crowd may also have felt that “not honouring the result of the referendum would be appalling”.