Local Tory MPs voted against Theresa May in leadership confidence ballot

VETERAN Christchurch MP Sir Chris Chope has confirmed he was among the 117 Conservative rebels who unsuccessfully tried to dethrone Prime Minister Theresa May.

The backbencher said he joined the bid to get her to stand down as Tory leader because of her EU deal and his belief she had backtracked on a host of issues.

“The reason I do not have confidence is that she has reneged on so many promises we made in our manifesto,” Sir Christopher told the A&T. “She seems to be ignoring the beliefs she once espoused.”

He also hit out at cabinet colleagues who he claimed publicly backed her while running leadership campaigns to depose her away from the glare of the TV cameras.

“It is extraordinary, though, that by all accounts a number of cabinet ministers who were openly declaring their undying loyalty to the Prime Minister were at the same time organising leadership campaigns,” Sir Chris went on.

“It is systemic of the fragility there is at the moment.

“I do not know what teams they have or what manifestos they have or commitments or anything – I am as much in the dark as anyone else,” he insisted.

“The Prime Minister keeps on using the words ‘strong and stable’, whereas the reality is things are really weak and unstable.”

New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne has also confessed to rebelling against the PM at the vote.

New Forest East’s Julian Lewis would not reveal how he cast his ballot – but did reiterate recent criticisms of her.

The vote was triggered last Wednesday when 48 Conservative MPs sent letters to the party hierarchy declaring they had no confidence in Mrs May’s leadership.

However, it was over later that evening when a vote of the party revealed 200 of its MPs had backed her.

It ended a dramatic day at Westminster after fall-outs over Mrs May’s Brexit deal.

Sir Chris maintained he did not trust her to deliver Brexit, and argued that while the rebellion had been quashed – under party rules another no confidence vote cannot be held for a further year – Mrs May surviving had “not solved anything”.

He pointed out former PM Margaret Thatcher won a no confidence vote but resigned soon after because of the higher than expected number of MPs who came out against her.

“Mrs May cannot be forced out by the political party but obviously her position in Parliament is pretty difficult,” he said.

“That is because – and this is another reason why I cannot support her – the DUP, who we need the support of in order to sustain the Conservative majority in parliament, are very supportive still of the party but they have lost the trust they had in the PM. It makes the continuing of the arrangement with the DUP very difficult.

“We are living from day to day at the moment,” Sir Chris continued.

“We need to get out of the EU. Parliament made it very clear the current deal is a bad deal and no deal is better than a bad deal, and she needs to go full steam ahead without a deal on 29th March when we leave the EU.”

Asked about the Conservative party’s prospects amid a buoyed Labour party, he added. “I do not fear an election at all.”