EXCL Theresa May to face fresh attempt to oust her despite Brexit truce
2 min read
Senior Tories will consider a fresh attempt to change party rules in a bid to boot Theresa May out of office more easily, PoliticsHome can reveal.
A meeting of the executive of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers will hear calls for the Prime Minister to face a fresh confidence vote next month.
Mrs May has said that the Withdrawal Agreement Bill - the legislation needed to take the UK out of the EU - must be passed before Parliament's summer recess at the end of July.
The draft legislation will be put to a Commons vote in the first week of June, and Mrs May has agreed to set out when she will stand down if it is defeated.
However, some MPs are concerned she could take the extraordinary step of cancelling the summer recess to buy herself more time to get it through.
Under current rules, a Tory leader cannot face a vote of no confidence more than once a year, which means MRs May cannot be challenged again until December.
An attempt to reduce that to six months was defeated 9-7 at a meeting of the 1922 Committee executive last month.
Now one member of the executive has revealed they will call for another vote on the proposal when they meet again on Wednesday.
The MP said: "The big fear is she might try to cancel the summer recess in order to get Brexit through.
“The suggestion was mentioned at the last meeting and some people were nodding their heads. That would be catastrophic. We cannot wait another half year if she tries to stay on."
The PM last week begged the committee to allow her to hold the vote on the WAB first before forcing her to set a departure date.
After the meeting, 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady said: "The Prime Minister is determined to secure our departure from the European Union and is devoting her efforts to securing the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week commencing 3 June 2019 and the passage of that Bill and the consequent departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union by the Summer.
“We have agreed that she and I will meeting following the 2nd Reading of the Bill to agree a timetable for the election of a new leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party.”
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