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Theresa May’s 2 chiefs of staff resign in wake of disastrous UK election campaign | Theresa May’s 2 chiefs of staff resign in wake of disastrous UK election campaign |
(about 5 hours later) | |
Theresa May’s chiefs of staff Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy have resigned after a disastrous Conservative Party campaign which weakened the Tories’ position in parliament. The prime minister has since announced Gavin Barwell is her new chief of staff. | |
May’s leadership of the party is already under threat and rumors circulated widely that heads would roll after the Pyrrhic victory that left the Conservatives clinging to power. | May’s leadership of the party is already under threat and rumors circulated widely that heads would roll after the Pyrrhic victory that left the Conservatives clinging to power. |
Fiona Hill made a brief statement Saturday on the party website, Conservative Home: | Fiona Hill made a brief statement Saturday on the party website, Conservative Home: |
“It’s been a pleasure to serve in government, and a pleasure to work with such an excellent Prime Minister. I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as Prime Minister – and do it brilliantly.” | “It’s been a pleasure to serve in government, and a pleasure to work with such an excellent Prime Minister. I have no doubt at all that Theresa May will continue to serve and work hard as Prime Minister – and do it brilliantly.” |
Timothy elaborated more on his decision to resign in an online statement. | Timothy elaborated more on his decision to resign in an online statement. |
He claimed that it was not a lack of support for incumbent PM May, but “an unexpected surge in support for Labour,” that led to the election disappointment for the Tories. | He claimed that it was not a lack of support for incumbent PM May, but “an unexpected surge in support for Labour,” that led to the election disappointment for the Tories. |
Timothy also took responsibility for the election campaign failure and blamed “oversight of policy programme” and poor communication of the conservative platform to undecided voters for the ultimate loss. | Timothy also took responsibility for the election campaign failure and blamed “oversight of policy programme” and poor communication of the conservative platform to undecided voters for the ultimate loss. |
“In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care,” Timothy stated in reference to the notorious “dementia tax” fiasco which severely damaged the Conservative campaign. | “In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care,” Timothy stated in reference to the notorious “dementia tax” fiasco which severely damaged the Conservative campaign. |
“I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policy’s inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project,” he added. | “I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policy’s inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project,” he added. |
He concluded by calling for unity within the Conservative Party and urged members to back May through this “difficult period.” | He concluded by calling for unity within the Conservative Party and urged members to back May through this “difficult period.” |
Later Saturday, May announced she has appointed Gavin Barwell, the Croyden Central MP who lost his seat in the election, as her new chief of staff. | |
Barwell, who was housing minister until the election upset, will replace Timothy and Hill. | |
May said she was “delighted” to announce that Barwell had accepted his new role."He has been a first class minister and is widely respected,” she said. “He will bring considerable experience of the party to the post. As I said yesterday, I want to reflect on the election and why it did not deliver the result I hoped for. Gavin will have an important role to play in that. I look forward to working with him." | |
Former Downing Street director of communications Katie Perrior lambasted the ex-chiefs of staff for their “rude, abusive [and] childish behaviour” in a scathing article published online in the Times, and for measuring success by “how many enemies they had clocked up.” | |
She described her tenure in No.10 Downing Street as a “painful ten months” filled with meetings where staffers would sit in silence “while Fiona would raise some batshit crazy idea.” | She described her tenure in No.10 Downing Street as a “painful ten months” filled with meetings where staffers would sit in silence “while Fiona would raise some batshit crazy idea.” |
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