Infighting dominated the start of the Tory conference yesterday as Theresa May came under pressure to rein in Boris Johnson.
Her attempt to reach out to younger voters was overshadowed by the Foreign Secretary’s second high-profile intervention on Brexit in a fortnight.
Still weakened by the fallout from her election disaster, the Prime Minister was urged by some in her party yesterday to silence Mr Johnson, or remove him from her Cabinet.
Infighting dominated the start of the Tory conference yesterday as Theresa May came under pressure to rein in Boris Johnson
Two senior figures on the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs even told the Mail the party would back her if she decided to sack him.
But another high-profile Conservative, Jacob Rees-Mogg, appeared to back the Foreign Secretary last night. He said he too did not ‘want to see any foot dragging’ over Brexit.
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson appealed for unity and suggested the stand-off between Mrs May and Mr Johnson was a ‘psychodrama’.
Business leaders also demanded an end to the Cabinet squabbling.
The British Chambers of Commerce said the Government needed to start showing ‘competence and coherence’ to steer the economy through the departure from the EU.
One of the Prime Minister’s allies was last night reported to have accused Mr Johnson of posturing and using Brexit to boost his profile.
Delegates attend the first day of the annual Conservative Party conference in Manchester
The Foreign Secretary denied this, telling the Daily Telegraph: ‘If you studied what I said, it was basically government policy. I think it’s extraordinary that so much fuss has been made about repeating government policy.’
In other developments:
- Mrs May refused to say in a TV interview whether Mr Johnson was ‘unsackable’;
- She apologised directly to party activists for calling the snap election in June;
- Ministers confirmed they had warned the PM of upsetting the Queen in her rush to form a government;
- Miss Davidson, one of the favourites to succeed Mrs May, received a rousing conference reception;
- The Tories tried to appeal to younger voters with an £11billion package on housing and tuition fees;
- Philip Hammond prepared to launch a robust defence of capitalism today;
- Senior Conservatives said that Mrs May expected trade talks with the EU to start by Christmas.
Mrs May has previously said no minister is unsackable, but yesterday she laughed nervously and avoided the question during an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show when she was asked about Mr Johnson’s latest intervention.
Mrs May has previously said no minister is unsackable, but yesterday she laughed nervously and avoided the question during an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show
The Prime Minister insisted she had a Cabinet ‘united in the mission of this government’. Former Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps yesterday said she was ‘not strong enough’ to sack Mr Johnson.
But senior figures on the 1922 Committee said the party was tired of efforts to destabilise Mrs May.
‘She has got the authority to create the government she wants,’ one said. ‘She is in a much stronger position than most people realise. Colleagues have not got much patience for the kind of self-indulgence we have been seeing.
‘We have two choices at this conference – either we mess about and make things worse than they already are or we don’t. Everyone needs to understand that.’
Another said: ‘The party has made a decision that it is sticking with the PM for now. It will not tolerate people who try to get in the way of that.’
Two senior figures on the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs told the Mail the party would back her if she decided to sack Mr Johnson. Pictured, Mrs May with husband Philip at the Tory conference
Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, last night told the BBC’s Westminster Hour programme it was time for ministers to stop ‘squabbling’.
Mr Johnson’s decision to set out four new ‘red lines’ on Brexit on the eve of the Conservative Party conference has infuriated many MPs and ministers. It came just a fortnight after he stunned Downing Street by publishing an unauthorised 4,000-word essay setting out his vision for Britain’s strategy.
The Foreign Secretary is said to have told friends that the Prime Minister ‘will be gone in a year’.
In a Channel Four documentary due to be screened last night he also mocked her reliance on former aides Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, saying: ‘That’s modern slavery right there.’