The party’s grassroots supporters are expected to push to have a vote as enough party chairmen backed a petition campaigning for it. According to the Telegraph, the Conservatives will now hold an “extraordinary general meeting” (EGM) to allow a vote on the Prime Minister’s future. The vote will be completed because the National Conservative Convention (NCC) – a body for the party’s volunteers – has a duty under its constitution to do so due to the petition.

Mrs May’s tenure as Prime Minister appears to be in serious doubt following weeks of Conservative in-fighting and her Brexit deal being roundly trounced by opponents.

Campaigners want the chance to have their say on her future, with some saying any vote “will add weight to moves by the 1922 Committee to change their procedure, to allow for a further confidence vote in the Prime Minister by MPs”.

There are some within the Tory Party that want the 1922 Committee to change their rules that mean a no confidence vote cannot be brought against a leader within a year of them winning one.

Currently, Mrs May would be safe until December this year, having won a confidence vote in December 2018.

The petition says the chairmen “no longer feel that Mrs May is the right person to continue as Prime Minister to lead us forward in the negotiations.

“We therefore with great reluctance ask that she considers her position and resigns, to allow the Conservative Party to choose another leader, and the country to move forward and negotiate our exit from the EU.”

Reports suggest the NCC will now begin plans to organise the EGM.

Around 800 of the Conservative’s highest ranking members will be eligible to vote.

Dinah Glover, who organised the petition and is chairman of London East Area Conservatives, said: “I am extremely sad that we have had to organise this petition to ask Mrs May to consider her position but it has become increasingly obvious over the last year that she has become the block to Brexit rather the solution.

“Chairmen have signed the petition because they fear Brexit will not be delivered under her leadership.

“We need a Prime Minister who believes in the benefits that Brexit can bring to our Country to lead us in the negotiations and out of the EU.

“That is the only solution which can satisfy our Party and the British people. Enough is enough.”

Alex Curtis, chairman of Hertford and Stortford Conservative Association, added: “I am absolutely devastated that I had to sign Dinah’s necessary motion.

“For the good of our country, such an outcome must be avoided. We need a change of leader urgently, to enable a change in Brexit strategy.”

Source: Read Full Article