THERESA May was holding desperate talks with senior Tories at Chequers yesterday after reports she was facing a major Cabinet coup.

The Prime Minister, who is due to convene a Cabinet meeting today, called ministers and backbenchers from her warring party to her official country residence as discussion over how long she would remain in post intensified.

Following a week of turmoil over her Brexit strategy it emerged a plot was underway to oust May and draft in David Lidington, her de facto deputy, or Environment Secretary Michael Gove as a replacement “caretaker” Prime Minister.

Both Lidington and Gove, along with Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and chief whip Julian Smith, were said to be in attendance at Chequers yesterday along with backbenchers Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab, Jacob Rees-Mogg, David Davis, Iain Duncan Smith and Damian Green.

The Sunday Times said it had spoken to 11 Cabinet ministers who said they want May to stand down and make way for a successor within weeks. One told the paper: “The end is nigh. She won’t be Prime Minister in 10 days’ time.”

Another said: “Her judgment has started to go haywire. You can’t be a member of the Cabinet who just puts your head in the sand.”

According to The Sunday Times, at least six ministers – including Greg Clark, Amber Rudd and David Gauke – want to install Lidington, a former Europe minister and 2016 Remain campaigner.

They believe he could either oversee Brexit or negotiate a long extension and then step aside after a full Tory leadership contest in the summer. The paper also reported there were growing fears over May’s health with officials in Parliament so concerned they had drawn up a protocol to “extract her from the Commons if she collapsed at the despatch box”.

Elsewhere it was reported a major backlash was brewing at the prospect of Lidington taking the reins – with some instead talking up Brexiteer Gove for the job.

One Cabinet Minister told the Mail on Sunday: “The public will never forgive us if in a time of historical crisis our answer is David Lidington.This is where it is going to get very scary, whatever you think about it.”

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt is also said to object to the idea of Lidington entering Number 10, amid fears the Cabinet Office minister could seek to pass a deal with Labour support by ditching May’s objections to a permanent customs union with the EU.

Lidington held talks with opposition parties last week on plans to test the kind of Brexit outcome MPs would be willing to get behind through a series of so-called “indicative votes” – triggering a furious response from Brexiteers.

Amid the tumult, Lidington and Gove dismissed reports of a Cabinet coup to oust May, and restated their support for her.

The Environment Secretary said it was “not the time to change the captain of the ship”, while the PM’s de facto deputy said he had no desire to take over the reins.

Gove told the BBC: “I think this is a time for cool heads. But we absolutely do need to focus on the task at hand and that’s making sure that we get the maximum possible support for the Prime Minister and her deal.”

He added: “It’s not the time to change the captain of the ship, I think what we need to do is to chart the right course.”

Speaking to reporters in his Aylesbury constituency, Lidington said: “I don’t think that I’ve any wish to take over from the PM (who) I think is doing a fantastic job.

“I tell you this – one thing that working closely with the Prime Minister does is cure you completely of any lingering shred of ambition to want to do that task.

“I have absolute admiration for the way she is going about it.”

Chancellor Philip Hammond accused those allegedly trying to topple May of being “self-indulgent”, while former party leader Iain Duncan Smith told ministers who briefed against the Prime Minister to apologise and “shut up”.

Meanwhile, Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay warned the risk of a general election would increase if MPs took control of parliamentary proceedings this week and brought about a “constitutional collision”.

Despite heavy criticism of May’s handling of the Brexit process and calls from members of her party to stand aside, the Chancellor insisted ousting her would not “solve the problem”.

“To be talking about changing the players on the board frankly is self-indulgent at this time,” Hammond told Sky News. “This is not about the Prime Minister or any other individual, this is about the future of our country. Changing Prime Minister wouldn’t help us, changing the party in Government wouldn’t help us – we’ve got to address the question of what type of Brexit is acceptable to Parliament.”

He announced MPs would be given the chance to hold indicative votes on alternatives to the PM’s Brexit deal this week but said a decision had not yet been made on whether Tories would be granted free votes.