Blow for Theresa May as poll shows Tory calls for Prime Minister to quit at ‘record high’
2 min read
Theresa May has suffered another blow to her leadership after a poll revealed that more than four in five Conservative Party members want her to quit.
The study by ConservativeHome, and the first since the Tories’ local elections drubbing, found that 82% of the party faithful want the Prime Minister to step aside, while just 16% said she should stay on.
The record high is up 3% on a study held two-weeks ago and 11 points higher than a month ago.
It comes after the party suffered their worst performance in nearly 25 years, losing 1,334 councillors and control of more than 40 local authorities in England.
Labour meanwhile lost 82 councillors as well as local authorities in key party heartlands, with the Lib Dems and Greens the main beneficiaries of the evening, gaining more than 700 and 200 seats respectively.
Tory MPs cannot force a vote of confidence to remove Mrs May as leader until December – a year since the last vote of confidence was held – unless party officials changes its rules.
The Prime Minister has signalled that she will step down after getting a Brexit deal through the Commons, but has not set out a formal date for her departure.
The damning poll come days after former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, branded Mrs May a “caretaker prime minister”.
Speaking on LBC, he said: “We have to make a change… the [1922] committee has to sit again now, urgently, and decide that either the Prime Minister sets the immediate date for departure or, I’m afraid, we must do it for her.”
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