LONDON — Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May was scrambling Sunday to win over adversaries to her Brexit withdrawal plan as key Cabinet ministers denied media reports that they were plotting to oust her.
May spent the afternoon ensconced in a crisis meeting at her country residence Chequers with fellow Conservatives and outspoken Brexit advocates like Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and others who would prefer to leave the European Union without a divorce deal rather than delay Britain’s departure from the bloc further.
Her office released a statement afterward giving no hint about whether she had gained any new backing. It said only that they discussed “whether there is sufficient support” to bring her Brexit divorce plan back to Parliament for a third vote.
Theresa May
The prime minister has found her authority weakened after a series of setbacks in Parliament and her inability to win meaningful concessions from EU leaders who refuse to sweeten the Brexit deal.
The Sunday Times claims that 11 Cabinet ministers plan to tell May to resign so a caretaker leader can be put in her place to kick start the stalled Brexit process. She faces growing pressure from within her own party either to resign or to set a date for stepping down as a way to build support for her Brexit plan.
The confrontation may come to a head at a Cabinet session expected Monday.
Under Conservative Party rules, May cannot face a formal leadership challenge from within her own party until December because she survived one three months ago. But she may be persuaded that her position is untenable if top Cabinet ministers and other senior party members desert her.
Despite headlines about a Cabinet coup, there was no indication from Downing Street on Sunday that a resignation was near. Two of the people mentioned as possible successors – Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and Treasury chief Philip Hammond – expressed strong support for May.
Hammond said Sunday that senior party members plotting to oust May were being “self-indulgent.”
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