Theresa May will be under fresh pressure to quit this week after a new opinion poll put the Conservative Party in third place – after Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
The ComRes survey of Westminster voting intention put Farage’s group on 20% and the Tories on 19% – their worst opinion poll rating since 1995. Labour was on 27%.
The pollster’s chairman Andrew Hawkins branded the result a “disaster”, adding: “If the Conservative leadership contenders are not careful, there will be no party for them to lead.”
A second poll by Opinium put the Tories on 22%, one point ahead of the Brexit Party, in a theoretical general election.
Mrs May will put a brave face on the saga tomorrow by resuming talks to find a Brexit compromise with Labour.
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Her Chief Whip, deputy, Business Secretary, Environment Secretary and Brexit Secretary will hold the talks on Monday evening.
Labour is expected to send Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, Brexit chief Keir Starmer, business chief Rebecca Long-Bailey and environment chief Sue Hayman.
But privately sources were not expecting a breakthrough after Mrs May refused to accept Labour’s demand of a permanent customs union.
Shadow minister Jon Ashworth told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “It’s not getting very far, but we are still engaging in those negotiations in good faith.”
With fury mounting in Tory ranks at the Labour talks, Mrs May is expected to meet backbench MPs later this week amid fresh calls to set out a timetable for her exit.
The Tories’ 1922 Committee will reportedly consider whether to scrap a rule that prevents Mrs May facing another leadership contest until December.
The Committee’s executive has already narrowly voted to keep the rule – but need just a few switchers to scrap it.
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The meeting will come ahead of a dismal expected result in the EU elections on May 23 – where polls have put the Brexit Party as high as 34%.
Pressure was mounting today as sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson accused the Prime Minister of “betrayal” and branded her “politically naive” for continuing talks with Labour.
Bernard Jenkin – a leader of Tory MPs’ 1922 Committee – today condemned Mrs May for “surrendering again and again” and called for her to go over the summer.
He wrote in the Sunday Telegraph: “Theresa May has written the script for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
“He has stolen our narrative about honouring democracy. Mr Farage is storming the country, addressing venues full of paying supporters.
“The Conservative Party must adapt or die. Every week, nothing has changed; and Mrs May squanders the national interest and consolidates his advantage.”
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Meanwhile a Cabinet minister and leadership hopeful warned the Tories face “annihilation” if they don’t pick the right successor to Theresa May .
Liz Truss, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, told the Mail on Sunday: “The Conservative Party needs to wake up.
“Just doing more of what we have been doing for the past nine years is not going to win over modern Britain.
“We need to be bold, otherwise we will be annihilated by the tsunami of Corbyn and Farage.”
Prisons minister Robert Buckland urged Tory MPs to rally around the Prime Minister – who has said she will quit once her Brexit deal is delivered.
He said: “If that can be done quickly, then we have that timetable set out already.
“I don’t think she needs to say any more about that. What we need to do is to get on with the job.”
Even Theresa May’s husband Philip has shifted his focus to her exit rather than keeping her in office, one report in the Sunday Times claimed.
A friend told the newspaper: “He loves her dearly, and he wants her to exit decently.”
Downing Street declined to comment on the claim.
