BRITAIN could be plunged into a snap election as soon as this summer, Tory MPs fear.
A Remainer revolt against No Deal Brexit may bring down the new PM within weeks of taking office.
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And rivals of Boris Johnson believe the frontrunner for No10 is gearing up for a General Election later this year.
That would see the country head to the polls for the third time in four years.
Boris, Dominic Raab and Sajid Javid have all pledged to take Britain out of the EU without a deal if that’s the only way to deliver Brexit by the October 31 deadline.
But that would set up a massive clash with Parliament – as a majority of MPs are firmly against No Deal.
Top Tories believe that in that case, the new PM would either have to call an election himself or face a no-confidence vote which triggers a snap poll.
One senior Brexiteer told The Sun that if Boris makes it to No10 in July, Remainer MPs would vote to collapse the Government immediately.
That would mean a General Election by early September with campaigning taking place over the summer holidays.
BOJO BALLOT?
Rival leadership camps have accused Mr Boris of laying the ground for a snap election by pushing opinion polls which state he is the most likely to beat Jeremy Corbyn.
A source close to Jeremy Hunt said: “You only need to look at the polling that’s coming out of team Boris to know that they’re planning for a General Election.”
An aide to another campaign added: “There’s about a dozen Tories who’d prefer an election to No Deal. If you think the country’s exploding anyway, you don’t mind pressing the nuclear button.
“They won’t wait until October 29 – they need a few weeks to be sure and that could mean starting the election process in mid-August.”
But a source close to Boris said it was “nonsense” to claim he’s planning an early election.
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Last night Dominic Grieve became the first Tory MP to say he would rather bring down the Government than accept No Deal.
He told the Commons he “will not hesitate” to remove his own party from power if the next Prime Minister tries to take us out of the EU without a deal on Halloween.
Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price told The Sun: “A stand-off with Parliament could lead to a General Election.
“It won’t be pretty for the Conservative party if we haven’t left. And it will mean Prime Minister Corbyn.”
Opposition parties are keen to see a General Election as soon as possible to try and get the Tories out of power – and force a delay to Brexit.
Labour have threatened to hold a no-confidence vote in the new PM at any point.
And a Lib Dem source said: “If we had a General Election now we’d pick up MPs – so a lot of people in the parliamentary party are really up for it.”
Timetable of Tory leadership election which will pick new PM
June 7: Theresa May stood down as party leader but will continue as PM until her successor is elected
June 10: Nominations for the leadership closed with ten candidates entering the race
June 13: First ballot of MPs, open 10am-12pm; any candidate with fewer than 17 votes eliminated
June 18: Second ballot (if needed), open 3pm-5pm; any candidate with fewer than 33 votes eliminated
June 19: Third ballot (if needed), open 3pm-5pm; candidate with fewest votes eliminated
June 20: Fourth ballot (if needed), open 10am-12pm; candidate with fewest votes eliminated – any further ballots needed will also take place on this day
June 22: Second stage begins where votes shift from MPs to party activists who will choose between final two candidates
July 22: Result announced this week, in time for Commons recess to begin
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