Grant Shapps: Tory MPs have 'rained abuse and bile' on me over Theresa May plot
2 min read
Grant Shapps has accused Conservative MPs of raining "abuse and bile" on him over his attempt to oust Theresa May as party leader.
The former Tory chairman said he had been painted as a "villain" after Chief Whip Gavin Williamson briefed the media about his role in the plot.
Mr Shapps last week admitted he was behind moves to accumulate enough MPs to force a leadership contest in the wake of Mrs May's disastrous Conservative conference speech.
But the rebellion collapsed after Tories closed ranks around the Prime Minister and publicly condemned Mr Shapps.
In an email to colleagues, seen by The Guardian, the Welwyn Hatfield MP said he had been hung out to dry by party bosses.
"The level of abuse and bile which has rained down since is simply unprecedented in my own experience of politics, and I’ve been a party chairman at election time, so that’s saying something!" he said.
"Sadly, it has come from many of our own colleagues, including those who most rail against cyberbullying. Some of whom are known to have previously held similar views on this issue of timing."
Mr Shapps said he had been "completely up front" over the list of anti-May MPs he was drawing up, and had even told Downing Street's director of communications, Robbie Gibb, about what he was doing.
He said: "Rather than a list of concerned colleagues who wanted to express their thoughts to the PM, we were presented with talk of ‘plots’ and ‘ringleaders’. We now know that No 10 passed on the above information to our whips. They in turn briefed it as a sensationalist story."
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