THERESA May is refusing to set a firm resignation date as she is convinced it would make it impossible to pass her Brexit deal. The reasoning behind the PM’s defiance in her stand-off with party grandees is revealed today by the chairman of the 1922 Committee of all Tory backbenchers. Pinning down her departure date […]
THERESA May is refusing to set a firm resignation date as she is convinced it would make it impossible to pass her Brexit deal.
The reasoning behind the PM’s defiance in her stand-off with party grandees is revealed today by the chairman of the 1922 Committee of all Tory backbenchers.
Pinning down her departure date before a deal is approved by the Commons would only see her Brexiteer critics dig in and wait for it rather than vote for her EU agreement, she fears.
But despite the PM’s refusal so far, Sir Graham Brady is still insisting Mrs May fulfils his demand for a timetable to leave No10 no matter what at her showdown meeting with his executive team next Thursday.
Turning up the pressure on Mrs May further today, Sir Graham also said “it would be strange” if she didn’t do that.
The most powerful Tory backbencher told BBC Radio 4’s Week in Westminster: “I do understand the reticence about doing it.
We have asked a question. She’s coming, I assume, to answer it
Sir Graham Brady
“I don’t think it’s about an intention for staying indefinitely as Prime Minister or leader of the Conservative Party.
“I think the reticence is the concern that by promising to go on a certain timetable, it might make it less likely she would secure Parliamentary approval for the Withdrawal Agreement, rather than more likely.”
But Sir Graham added: “It is also the case that the 1922 executive has asked her to give that clarity. She’s offered to come and meet with the executive, and it would be strange for that not to result in a clear understanding at the end of the meeting.
“We have asked a question. She’s coming, I assume, to answer it.”
The latest thinking in Downing Street – revealed by James Forsyth in his Sun column today – would see Mrs May give the grandees a far smaller concession.
Under the plan, the PM would pledge to the executive to resign as party leader as soon as her Brexit deal is passed, triggering a long summer leadership contest.
After MPs whittle down the array of candidates to a final two, they would then tour the country to meet members for weeks.
The final debate between them would come at the Tories’ annual conference in October.
Voting would then take place among the 150,000 members, with the new PM taking over in late October or November.
Mrs May’s biggest Tory critics have threatened to try again next week to change the party’s rules to call a snap vote of confidence in herif she fails to offer up a firm departure timetable.
