Tory critics 'doomed to be led by Theresa May' for two more years - Ken Clarke
2 min read
Ken Clarke has hit back at Theresa May's critics within the Conservative party and told them they are “doomed” to be led by her for at least two more years.
The Tory grandee said it would be a “disaster” for the Prime Minister to be ousted, after weeks of speculation about her future since the Tories lost seats in the general election.
The Sunday Times this morning reported that 15 Conservative MPs were prepared to put their names to a letter of no confidence in Mrs May – though it is well short of the 48 signatures required to trigger a leadership contest.
But Mr Clarke said she could have a number of years left in charge at No 10.
“If you wish to put the final tin lid on this combination of problems, have a leadership contest and a daft fight again between a whole range of candidates – there’s no obvious successor,” he told 5Live’s Pienaar’s Politics.
“A Theresa May led government, if it comes back in the autumn having begun to work out where it wants to go, could last at least two years.”
A survey of Tory members this morning backed up Mr Clarke’s assertion that there was no obvious successor, with “don’t know” leading the pack of potential candidates ahead of Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
The former chancellor said it was in the interest of everyone in the party to make Theresa May’s remaining time in office a success.
“For people who do not like Theresa May, which is not me, they’re doomed to be led by Theresa May for the next two or three years and they’ll get even more disasters, the Conservative party, if the two or three years are not reasonably successful. We need to go back to economic growth, we need to concentrate on the key problems.”
Meanwhile, another prominent pro-EU member of the Tory parliamentary party, Anna Soubry, today gave her backing to Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson to take over the reins of the UK party in the future.
“[She is] a remarkable woman and I hope very much one day will be a remarkable Tory leader,” Ms Soubry told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.
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