Tory bosses will tell Theresa May to quit next month so new leader can take over Brexit
Powerful Tory backbenchers are poised to tell Mrs May she must formally resign by May 23
POWERFUL Tory backbenchers tonight finalised plans to demand Theresa May quits as PM next month if she signs Britain up to a lengthy Brexit delay.
At an hour-long meeting in Parliament the 18-strong executive of the Tory 1922 committee decided they would persuade her to quit as Tory leader by May 23.
This would formally launch a leadership contest that would see a new PM take the reigns by July.
They even discussed plans to change party rules to oust Mrs May if she refuses to sign up to their recommended timetable.
It comes after The Sun revealed today that Cabinet ministers believe she will be ousted when the Tories suffer a council elections bloodbath in the May 2 poll.
The 1922 handover plans - which MPs aim to present to No10 if Brexit is extended by a year - would see a new leader taking over as Prime Minister in June or July - allowing them the summer holidays to assemble their new Cabinet.
It could even pave the way for an autumn General Election, sources said.
One of the 1922 executive members at the meeting told The Sun: “There was a universal view that if it’s a long extension then what we can’t have the PM sitting there for the duration."
ESTHER PM BID
Meanwhile The Sun can reveal that ex-Cabinet minister Esther McVey is preparing a campaign team to launch a leadership bid.
Sources close to the senior Brexiteer MP said she is assembling a group of backbench MPs to run a leadership bid based on “blue collar” policies.
Newer MPs from the 2017 intake are swinging behind Ms McVey because they believe her pledge to drive a small ‘c’ Conservatism agenda is the best way of winning a majority at the next General Election.
One MP on her campaign team said: “That’s something we’re missing and even if she doesn’t make it all the way it’s about getting these principles back on the agenda.”
Another said: "She would also appeal to northern voters, helping to win those key marginals we need to win a majority and also make real inroads into those Labour heartlands for the long term."
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Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: "There's no better voter than a blue collar Conservative. They often have the enthusiast of the convert - because they come to Conservativism rather than born into it - and all they ask of it is an opportunity through their own hardwork to improve their family's lot.
"They certainly deserve a vocal representative at the Cabinet table, and Esther would make an excellent representative - with her northern accent and gritty northern determination."
Another Tory MP said: "She's not bright enough but I do support her blue collar stuff."
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