Michael Gove is reportedly on the brink of resigning after turning down the job of Brexit Secretary.
The leading Brexiteer is said to have been offered the post by Theresa May after Dominic Raab’s dramatic resignation this morning.
But Mr Gove – one of the leading faces of the Vote Leave campaign – refused unless he can go back to Brussels and renegotiate the Prime Minister’s exit deal.
He reportedly told Mrs May that he would only agree to take up the post and become the third Brexit Secretary within six months if he could take her deal back to the EU for more negotiations.
Michael Gove has reportedly turned down the job of Brexit Secretary – refusing the post unless he can go back and renegotiate with Brussels
Mr Gove considered the job offer a ‘poisoned chalice’ which would force him to deliver a Brexit deal he did not believe in, The Times reports. He spent the day with aides at home.
Friends told the Times he was in a ‘tortured’ position, having rejected a deal which he had reluctantly endorsed the day before.
The PM is now in a scramble to find another minister she trusts enough to fill the crucial post.
Last night, Mrs May held crisis talks with Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt, another Brexiteer, in a bid to prevent her handing in her resignation.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was also understood to be on the brink of quitting.
Downing Street would not comment last night on reports that Mr Gove was likely to quit.
If Mr Gove does go, it would be a remarkable turnaround as only on Wednesday he was one of the few pro-Brexit ministers to speak up in support of the deal in Cabinet.
But yesterday he was understood to have told Number 10 that he would only accept the position of heading up the Department for Exiting the European Union (Dexeu) if Mrs May agreed to allow negotiators to go back to Brussels to secure a deal which could get through Parliament.
That would involve cancelling the November 25 summit at which the other EU member states are due to discuss the proposed deal.
Another waverer is Miss Mordaunt, the International Development Secretary. She criticised the deal in Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting and last night she went back to Number 10 for another meeting with Mrs May.
Miss Mordaunt has been urging the Prime Minister to give Tory MPs a free vote on the deal in the Commons – allowing opponents to vote against it without defying the party whip.
She was named as a potential pro-Brexit successor to Mrs May by Jacob Rees-Mogg yesterday.
However, another Leave supporter in the Cabinet – Andrea Leadsom, the Commons Leader – insisted she has no plans to quit and will support Mrs May in securing a Brexit deal.
She said: ‘I am staying in government because there is more work to be done to get the Brexit that the Prime Minister wants to deliver to the people, and therefore I am determined to support her to do that.’
It came in a day of high political drama in Westminster as Mrs May is fighting for her political life today after Brexiteers effectively declared war – with Cabinet ministers quitting and an all-out bid to oust her.
The Prime Minister is braced for a Tory no-confidence vote to be triggered after she vowed to push on with her controversial Brexit plan despite Mr Raab and Esther McVey quitting accusing her of bowing to EU ‘blackmail’.
Other junior ministers have also resigned as the situation threatens to spiral out of control, with the Pound plunging as markets take fright at the chances of a Brexit deal recedin
Mrs May dodged questions about Mr Gove and if she is struggling to fill her empty Cabinet posts when she appeared at a press conference in central London tonight.
She said: ‘I have had quit a busy day today – three hours in the House of Commons.
‘Michael has been doing an excellent job at Dera, and particularly in his defence of the fishing industry.’
She said the UK will be an ‘independent coastal state’ after Brexit.
The PM added: ‘I haven’t appointed a new DExEU Secretary yet. I will of course be making appointments to the Government in due course.’
In devastating exchanges in the Commons this morning after the bombshells dropped, the premier was mauled by MPs from all sides over her ‘dogs dinner’ package.
And Tory Eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg signalled an all-out assault by demanding she tell him why he should not write to the powerful Tory 1922 committee urging a no-confidence vote.
A defiant Mrs May (pictured in Downing Street today) told MPs that she would carry on in the ‘national interest’, despite admitting the compromises involved were not ‘comfortable’
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab dropped the bombshell news on the morning after the PM forced the terms of her proposed plan through Cabinet in a stormy five-hour meeting
At a meeting of the powerful Conservative ERG block this afternoon also attended by Boris Johnson, Mr Rees-Mogg confirmed that he had put in his letter, saying Mrs May had ‘failed to meet her promises’ and it was ‘too late’ for her to turn it around.
And at a press conference afterwards he denying mounting a ‘coup’ but said: ‘This is not Brexit. This is a failure of government policy.’
The hardline Brexiteer ruled out running in any leadership contest – picking out Boris Johnson, Mr Raab, David Davis and Penny Mordaunt as contenders.
MailOnline has learned government whips are now canvassing MPs on which way they will vote – suggesting they believe the trigger threshold of 48 letters has been reached.
Downing Street said no appointments to replace Mr Raab or former Work and Pensions Secretary Miss McVey were expected last night.
One option being considered is to merge the Department for Exiting the European Union with the Department for International Trade, which is headed by Liam Fox. This would see Dr Fox taking over as the head of a new beefed-up Brexit department.
Others to quit yesterday were three junior ministers and two aides – Brexit minister Suella Braverman, Northern Ireland minister Shailesh Vara, justice minister Ranil Jayawardena, education parliamentary private secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Conservative Party vice-chairman (communities) Rehman Chishti.
Downing Street insisted she will fight if a challenge is held. If she does not secure backing from a majority of MPs a full leadership contest would be triggered.
How Brexiteers would get rid of Theresa May: The Tory Party rules on holding a vote of no confidence and replacing her with a new leader
Brexiteers have attempted a coup against Theresa May in fury at her draft deal with the EU – but they will have to navigate Tory rules to force her out.
The Prime Minister insisted she plans to ‘see this through’ to make clear to the rebels she will not quit voluntarily.
This is how the Tory Party rules work:
What is the mechanism for removing the Tory leader? Tory Party rules allow the MPs to force a vote of no confidence in their leader.
How is that triggered? A vote is in the hands of the chairman of the Tory Party’s backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady.
A vote of no confidence must be held if 15 per cent of Tory MPs write to the chairman. Currently that threshold is 48 MPs.
Letters are confidential unless the MP sending it makes it public. This means only Sir Graham knows how many letters there are.
This possible delay could give Mrs May a ‘grace period’ where she knows a contest is imminent but not yet public knowledge.
A vote is in the hands of the chairman of the Tory Party’s backbench 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady (file image)
How is a vote announced? There are few fixed rules but Sir Graham is likely to inform Downing Street or the Chief Whip and then make a public announcement.
Sir Graham is likely to check with the MPs who have sent him a letter before making an announcement in case any of them want to withdraw. This will happen secretly.
How will the vote happen? After it is announced, a vote will happen quickly, with Tory MPs invited to cast a secret ballot in a Commons committee room.
Voting will be open for one day and Sir Graham will announce the result at the end.
Brexiteers have attempted a coup against Theresa May
What needs to happen for Theresa May to win? Officially, Mrs May only needs to win a simple majority of Tory MPs – currently that is 158 MPs.
Politically, winning by one would be devastating. If more than 100 MPs vote against her, most observers think she would be finished.
What happens if she loses? Mrs May is sacked as Tory leader and Sir Graham will announce a leadership contest. She cannot stand in the contest.
She will probably stay on as Prime Minister until a replacement is elected but have no political power or authority to do anything.
What happens next? In a Tory leadership contest, any MP can stand with a proposer and seconder.
Tory MPs vote several times a week on the candidates with the last place candidate being removed from the race at each ballot.
When there are only two candidates remaining, a run off is held among all Tory members in the country.
How long will it take? The first phase depends on how many candidates there are. A large field could mean a fortnight or more of regular ballots.
In the past, the second round has taken anywhere from four to 12 twelve weeks – but some think a vote of Tory members could be finished in just a week.