This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/22/theresa-may-clutches-at-final-straws-of-pretence-as-andrea-leadsom-resigns
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| May clutches at final straws of pretence as Leadsom resigns | May clutches at final straws of pretence as Leadsom resigns |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| A truly bad day for Theresa May, one which would certainly count as the worst-ever for many other prime ministers, actually began very late the previous night as the newspaper front pages dropped on social media. | |
| Probably the most brutal of a scathing bunch was the Telegraph, traditionally the bible of Conservative thought: “Desperate, deluded, doomed,” it read, above a trio of images of the prime minister in mid-gurn giving her Brexit speech. | Probably the most brutal of a scathing bunch was the Telegraph, traditionally the bible of Conservative thought: “Desperate, deluded, doomed,” it read, above a trio of images of the prime minister in mid-gurn giving her Brexit speech. |
| With reaction to May’s “10-point offer” becoming more negative by the hour, the apparent No 10 strategy seemed to be to somehow get through the day, and thus on to the media purdah of Thursday’s European elections, and then into next week’s parliamentary recess. | With reaction to May’s “10-point offer” becoming more negative by the hour, the apparent No 10 strategy seemed to be to somehow get through the day, and thus on to the media purdah of Thursday’s European elections, and then into next week’s parliamentary recess. |
| For May and her aides, the first challenge was prime minister’s questions, followed by a Commons statement on her planned withdrawal agreement bill, Downing Street’s latest and final vehicle for the PM’s Brexit ambitions. | For May and her aides, the first challenge was prime minister’s questions, followed by a Commons statement on her planned withdrawal agreement bill, Downing Street’s latest and final vehicle for the PM’s Brexit ambitions. |
| With ministerial and backbench unrest growing, not least about the decision to include an offer of a vote on a second Brexit referendum, the prime minister could have expected a barrage of criticism when she stood up at midday for PMQs. | With ministerial and backbench unrest growing, not least about the decision to include an offer of a vote on a second Brexit referendum, the prime minister could have expected a barrage of criticism when she stood up at midday for PMQs. |
| Instead, the reaction was arguably worse: silence, an almost near-indifference. Barely any Conservative MPs bothered to cheer as May clashed with Jeremy Corbyn over school funding, the Labour leader again avoiding questions on Brexit. | |
| Equally notable were the gaps on the Conservative benches, including alongside May, while the usually ever-present Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom, only arrived near the end. | Equally notable were the gaps on the Conservative benches, including alongside May, while the usually ever-present Commons leader, Andrea Leadsom, only arrived near the end. |
| “Something’s going on. Things could move quickly,” noted one cabinet minister. Leadsom, it transpired, had been at a meeting of the so-called Pizza Club group of MPs, which convened just before PMQs. | “Something’s going on. Things could move quickly,” noted one cabinet minister. Leadsom, it transpired, had been at a meeting of the so-called Pizza Club group of MPs, which convened just before PMQs. |
| Leadsom and Liz Truss, the Treasury chief secretary, were vehemently opposed to the Brexit plan, it emerged. Michael Gove, the environment secretary, and Liam Fox, the trade secretary, were among those suggesting the withdrawal bill be pulled for now, without demanding May’s resignation. | |
| Andrea Leadsom quits over Theresa May's Brexit bill | Andrea Leadsom quits over Theresa May's Brexit bill |
| The inference was nonetheless clear. Sources close to Pizza Club ministers conceded “the end of the withdrawal bill would inevitably lead to the end of May”. | The inference was nonetheless clear. Sources close to Pizza Club ministers conceded “the end of the withdrawal bill would inevitably lead to the end of May”. |
| The first sign of open movement came, unexpectedly, from David Mundell, the Scottish secretary from the soft Brexit wing of the party, who was furious that the prime minister had given fuel to the SNP’s hopes for a second independence referendum by opening the door to one on Brexit. | The first sign of open movement came, unexpectedly, from David Mundell, the Scottish secretary from the soft Brexit wing of the party, who was furious that the prime minister had given fuel to the SNP’s hopes for a second independence referendum by opening the door to one on Brexit. |
| He demanded a meeting with the prime minister, although sources close to him stressed he was not asking her to resign. There was talk of a group of pro-Brexit ministers marching in to make their discontent known to the prime minister. | He demanded a meeting with the prime minister, although sources close to him stressed he was not asking her to resign. There was talk of a group of pro-Brexit ministers marching in to make their discontent known to the prime minister. |
| It then emerged that Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, had also demanded meetings. | It then emerged that Sajid Javid, the home secretary, and Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, had also demanded meetings. |
| A parallel onslaught came from the backbenches. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the foreign affairs committee, called on May to go, saying “leadership matters and it has been absent for too long”, while Stephen Crabb, a former leadership contender, said she had to depart “within weeks”. | A parallel onslaught came from the backbenches. Tom Tugendhat, who chairs the foreign affairs committee, called on May to go, saying “leadership matters and it has been absent for too long”, while Stephen Crabb, a former leadership contender, said she had to depart “within weeks”. |
| With the PM holed up again in No 10 after battling through a 90-minute Commons grilling, in which she repeatedly insisted her plan was “the only way that we can deliver Brexit”, the chief whip, Julian Smith, arrived looking grim-faced. | With the PM holed up again in No 10 after battling through a 90-minute Commons grilling, in which she repeatedly insisted her plan was “the only way that we can deliver Brexit”, the chief whip, Julian Smith, arrived looking grim-faced. |
| But even as the expectations of imminent drama reached a peak, a new strand of the Downing Street survival strategy became apparent: pretend, publicly at least, as though none of this was actually happening. | But even as the expectations of imminent drama reached a peak, a new strand of the Downing Street survival strategy became apparent: pretend, publicly at least, as though none of this was actually happening. |
| May was simply refusing to see her senior ministers. Javid’s request was ignored, while a No 10 source said Hunt might be granted an audience on Thursday. The former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith reportedly said: “The sofa is up against the door, she’s not leaving.” | |
| Increasingly frantic Conservative rebels, seeing the moment of truth slip away yet again, switched their focus to the 1922 Committee, the official forum for backbench Tories. | Increasingly frantic Conservative rebels, seeing the moment of truth slip away yet again, switched their focus to the 1922 Committee, the official forum for backbench Tories. |
| The committee’s executive had refused several times recently to change internal party rules allowing a formal challenge to May inside the year-long hiatus triggered by a failed no-confidence vote in December. | The committee’s executive had refused several times recently to change internal party rules allowing a formal challenge to May inside the year-long hiatus triggered by a failed no-confidence vote in December. |
| One anguished MP told a reporter this time the committee had to act, adding: “Who does she think she is? Imelda Marcos?” | One anguished MP told a reporter this time the committee had to act, adding: “Who does she think she is? Imelda Marcos?” |
| They were again to be frustrated. The full committee meeting began, only to be adjourned on the news that Smith was heading over with word from No 10. | They were again to be frustrated. The full committee meeting began, only to be adjourned on the news that Smith was heading over with word from No 10. |
| The chief whip then briefed the committee executive for all of two minutes before leaving, after which the committee talked for much longer, with other MPs, plus peers and journalists, crammed into the narrow, sweaty corridor outside. | |
| One MP tried to keep up spirits by handing out Jelly Babies. Some veteran peers amused themselves by comparing May’s travails to the last, torrid days John Major. | |
| Eventually the news came: no change to the rules; instead a plan for Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 chair, to meet May on Friday to deliver a final, final ultimatum. This left some already fractious MPs furious. | Eventually the news came: no change to the rules; instead a plan for Sir Graham Brady, the 1922 chair, to meet May on Friday to deliver a final, final ultimatum. This left some already fractious MPs furious. |
| Some backbenchers were too visibly furious to even talk to the media. Others did not bother to hide their contempt. “We’ve kicked the can down the road, again,” one said. Another borrowed May’s own much-mocked impromptu slogan from the botched 2017 election: “Nothing. Has. Changed.” | Some backbenchers were too visibly furious to even talk to the media. Others did not bother to hide their contempt. “We’ve kicked the can down the road, again,” one said. Another borrowed May’s own much-mocked impromptu slogan from the botched 2017 election: “Nothing. Has. Changed.” |
| But soon after they dispersed into parliament’s maze of corridors and stairwells, the move happened: Leadsom tweeted a resignation letter, saying May’s approach would no longer “deliver on the referendum result”. | |
| It left a prime minister due to present a final, desperate piece of legislation in two days’ time without the minister expected to shepherd the bill through the Commons, and a parliamentary party in which, possibly without exception, every MP wanted her gone. | It left a prime minister due to present a final, desperate piece of legislation in two days’ time without the minister expected to shepherd the bill through the Commons, and a parliamentary party in which, possibly without exception, every MP wanted her gone. |
| Just a week away from exceeding Gordon Brown’s time in office, a milestone she reportedly covets, May suddenly found her time remaining in charge being measured in days, perhaps even hours. | Just a week away from exceeding Gordon Brown’s time in office, a milestone she reportedly covets, May suddenly found her time remaining in charge being measured in days, perhaps even hours. |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| Andrea Leadsom | Andrea Leadsom |
| Conservatives | Conservatives |
| 1922 Committee | 1922 Committee |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |
Previous version
1
Next version