Grant Shapps Says Tory Ministers Privately Agree May Should Go

In one of the most weird British political speeches in memory, May’s address was ruined by coughing fits, a comedian handing her a bogus employment termination notice, and by letters falling off the slogans on the set behind her. “[Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson] told me to hand her a P45”, the prankster said afterward. The speech was already a hard one for Mrs May, opening with an apology to her party for the disastrous election campaign earlier in the year.

Shapps said five former ministers were part of the move to oust May and some current ministers also “support it”, although other senior party figures contradicted him.

Mrs May retorted with a jibe aimed at the Labour Party leader, saying: “It’s Jeremy Corbyn who should be given a P45”.

Shapps, who resigned as party chairman in 2015 in the wake of the Tory bullying scandal, said he believed he had the support of up to 30 Conservative MPs for the coup and had hoped to go privately to May and encourage her to go.

Much of the anger among newer Tory MPs is understood to be directed towards Boris Johnson, who is perceived to have been overtly disloyal to Mrs May by setting out his Brexit red lines on the eve of the conference.

During her speech Mrs May was given a cough sweet by Chancellor Philip Hammond, but it appeared to do little to ease her symptoms as she repeatedly paused and sipped water during the speech.

May’s second betrayal came from the audience, which concealed a man waiting to rush the stage to give May a fake government pink slip dismissing her from her job.

But May earned praise for pushing through the hour long address, earning a standing ovation from members for her vision for a renewed Conservative Party.

Symbolising the presentational nightmare, two letters fell off the Tory slogan behind the Prime Minister’s head as she struggled to the end of her speech. More letters would follow.

Some fellow ministers like Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister also empathised with May’s condition during the speech.

And just as she did after the botched general election – in which she was widely perceived to have squandered an extremely strong position – May soldiered on.

The Scottish Sun says Theresa May suffered another disaster as her Tory conference speech descended into chaos.

It’s unclear whether her performance Wednesday will help or hinder her.

A former interior minister, May came to power previous year after her predecessor David Cameron stepped down in the wake of the Brexit referendum in which he had campaigned for Britain to stay in the European Union.

And then later, on Twitter, with humor.