Tension ahead of Tory rules vote
Theresa May believes many Tory MPs are beginning to think like her in opposing proposed changes to the leadership election rules.
The shadow family minister has from the outset expressed concern about attempts to exclude party members from any meaningful role in choosing the next leader.
With speculation mounting that activists will reject the proposals on the vote on September 27th, Ms May now believes many MPs are coming around to that idea too.
“Certainly the feelings I am getting are that actually both sides of the party may very well reject the proposed changes,” she told World at One.
She said that the mood among MPs has been changing as they have had discussions with members and activists in their constituencies over the summer.
“I think there are more MPs now who feel that actually a balanced compromise like an electoral college would be preferable to simply taking the vote back into the hands of MPs alone,” she continued.
Ms May added: “It has been one of the things we have been able to say to people about membership of the party – that you get a vote in the election of the leader. Now we are proposing to take that away.”
The proposals must be backed by two thirds of both MPs and the leaders of what Tories call the voluntary party, and this morning party chairman Francis Maud urged MPs to ensure this threshold was reached.
He admitted the Conservatives would look “pretty damn silly” if they were not agreed, but said be believed they would be because MPs have backed them in the past.
“The 1922 committee has voted twice by a very large majority for exactly this proposal, which is why we put it forwards. We also had a lot of indication that the voluntary party wanted this kind of proposal,” he told Today.
Mr Howard has written to MPs warning that the party faces “chaos” if the proposals are discarded, as it would result in returning to the current rules of a ballot among party members, which could take months to complete.
