Theresa May was due to be holding her first PMQs today since the Easter recess. Before the break she told MPs that they should use the holiday to consider their “national duty” and reflect on how they might find a solution to the Brexit impasse. That wish does not seem to have been fulfilled, but Tory MPs have been reflecting on what they can do to get rid of May herself.
And a new survey of Conservative party members by the ConservativeHome website illustrates quite how little support May now has in her party. According to Conservative Home, May’s approval ratings amongst members have hit a record low.
Here are the key figures.
And here is an extract from the analysis from ConservativeHome’s Mark Wallace. He says:
For obvious reasons, the prime minister is bearing particular blame from party members – both, one suspects, for her Brexit failure in particular and for the more general problems her continued leadership brings with it. Her rating wasn’t fantastic in February, when it sat at -40.8, but the prospect of postponement pushed it down to -51.2 in March, and the reality of that broken promise has pushed her numbers off a cliff, plummeting to -73.5 in April. I’ve searched our archives and so far as I can see this is the worst rating awarded to any Conservative ever in this question. The only cabinet league table numbers I can find which were worse were Vince Cable and Chris Huhne at their respective nadirs during the coalition years, which are not people a Tory prime minister would want to rival in the grassroots popularity stakes.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.15am: Philip Hammond, the chancellor, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee about the spring statement. My colleague Graeme Wearden will be covering it on his business live blog.
10am: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee on hate crime.
11am: The National Institute of Economic and Social Research publishes new economic forecasts at a press conference on the “economic outlook beyond the parliamentary Brexit impasse”.
11am: Nigel Farage, the Brexit party leader, visits Clacton. He is staging a walkabout, followed by a rally.
12pm: David Lidington, the Cabinet Office minister, will take PMQs.
1pm: The funeral of the writer and journalist Lyra McKee takes place in Belfast. Theresa May will be among those attending.
1.30pm: Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, makes a statement to the Scottish parliament about Brexit and independence.
2.30pm: Simon Stevens, the NHS England chief executive, gives evidence to the Commons public accounts committee about cancer waiting times.
Afternoon: The executive of the Conservative backbench 1922 Committee is expected to meet to resume its discussion on whether the rules should be changed to allow an early no confidence vote in May. Later there will be a full meeting of the 1922 Committee.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I expect to be focusing largely on Brexit-related developments. I plan to post a summary when I wrap up.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe round-up of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
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UPDATE: I have amended this post to reflect the fact that Number 10 has now said May will not be taking PMQs because she will be going to Belfast instead.