Boris Johnson today branded Theresa May's Brexit deal 'dead' - less than 24 hours after he sensationally backed it - and he will now urge the Prime Minister to quit rather than fight on.
The Prime Minister yesterday agreed to demands from Brexiteers, including her former Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson, that she step down in return for their support for her Brexit plan that must pass by Friday if the UK is to leave the EU by May 22.
But it may all have been in vain for Mrs May because the DUP refused to fall in behind the Prime Minister last night, and if they can not be brought onside in the coming hours the country will plunge into further chaos.
And Boris, who threw himself behind the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement despite repeatedly trashing it as 'an appalling humiliation' and a 'historic mistake', has now told friends the deal 'is dead anyway', according to the Evening Standard.
Mrs May said yesterday she would quit when she delivers Brexit - but with a general election or a long Brexit extension now the most likely outcome Mr Johnson is set to demand she honours her commitment to go even if her deal fails.
Despite the result being on a knife-edge, Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom has this afternoon confirmed a another vote on the PM's deal will be brought forward by the Government for tomorrow, which was meant to be Brexit day.
But there is confusion about whether it will be a third meaningful vote - or tweaked to prevent the Speaker John Bercow stopping it going ahead because it is not 'substantially changed'.
Boris Johnson today branded Theresa May's Brexit deal 'dead' - less than 24 hours after he sensationally backed it
Theresa May (pictured returning to Parliament tonight) sensationally promised to quit Downing Street in return for Tory Brexiteer rebels passing her deal tonight as she admitted her time as Prime Minister was almost over
Tory leadership candidate Michael Gove leaves home for a run today today as the Prime Minister fights to save her deal. Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured today) has urged hardline Eurosceptics to back Theresa May or face losing Brexit
On Monday, MPs will continue their attempts to force a soft Brexit such as a Customs Union on Mrs May before April 12 – and her ministers have threatened to call a general election rather than be railroaded into breaking her manifesto promises.
Will tomorrow's vote on the PM's deal be 'meaningful'?
Andrea Leadsom refused to spell out what MPs would be asked to vote on tomorrow – but there are two main possibilities.
The first is a full-blown ‘meaningful vote’ of the kind the Government has lost twice – if the Speaker is persuaded the question is ‘substantially different’.
The second is to hold a vote only on the divorce agreement – the legally binding treaty – and not the political declaration.
This would swerve the Speaker’s ruling and keep alive May 22 but would not amount to approving the deal in UK law.
The Prime Minister must secure Commons approval for her deal by 11pm on Friday if the UK is to be given an automatic delay to May 22 of the date on which it leaves the EU.
Friday's debate, on a day when the Commons was not due to be sitting, is dependent on a business motion being moved and passed by the House later on Thursday, and on Speaker John Bercow deeming that the Government's proposal is in line with parliamentary rules which ban the same motion being repeatedly tabled.
Ms Leadsom also signalled that all or part of the Commons' Easter recess - due to start on April 4 - may be cancelled.
If the government does call an election, it is likely to ask for another delay to Brexit from the EU so May can step down and a new Tory leader can be selected. The PM's would-be successors including favourites Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are already circling, the latter after finally supporting her deal despite months of trashing it.
The PM also faces opposition to her deal from up to 25 hardcore Brexiteer Spartans who still refuse to back her deal, leaving her needing to win over up to 30 Tory rebels.
Tory rebel Mark Francois said today: 'I wouldn't vote for it if they put a shotgun in my mouth. I am not voting for the deal on the basis of who is or is not the Prime Minister. I am not voting for the deal because I have read it. Nothing has changed - so I'm still happy to vote it down. The British people voted to leave the European Union - let's just leave'.
Yesterday, in an emotional speech, Mrs May told Tory MPs she would quit 'earlier than intended' if Parliament backed her withdrawal agreement.
There were initial signs that her gamble might pay off when a string of Eurosceptic MPs, led by Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith, said they would now swing behind her.
But, in a bombshell announcement shortly before 9pm, the DUP's said it would not support the agreement because it posed 'an unacceptable risk to the integrity of the UK'.
The party's deputy leader Nigel Dodds indicated it would vote against the plan, saying: 'We don't abstain when it comes to the Union.'
The DUP's support is seen as critical to unlocking the backing of dozens of Eurosceptic MPs and Mrs May's close friend Damian Green, a former minister, says the PM will not give up trying today.
If her deal fails then Parliament is likely to demand she asks the EU for a softer Brexit or draw up a second referendum - and the PM would then be expected to call a general election because it would tear up the Tory manifesto.
She has not ruled out staying to lead the party in a snap election but allies said that they hoped she will because she is seen as one of the few 'adults in the room', one source told The Times.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has said he still backs the PM's deal and is hoping the DUP 'come over' to it.
Tory Mark Francois said today he wouldn't vote for the PM's deal even with a gun in his mouth
He also praised Mrs May's behaviour yesterday and said she 'deserves support'.
Speaking to reporters in London, he said: 'I'm in favour of the deal and I hope the DUP will come over to the deal but we'll have to wait and see what they do.'
Asked if he would be speaking to the DUP's leader after she again ruled out backing the deal on Wednesday night, he said: 'I have no plans to speak to Arlene Foster but I do have conversations with the DUP from time to time in the ordinary course of events.'
He added: 'The Prime Minister behaved very nobly yesterday and I think she does deserve support at this stage.
'I don't like her deal. I make no bones about this. I don't think the deal's suddenly got better, simply that the alternative is now worse. It's not having any Brexit at all and it's letting down the 17.4 million people who voted to leave.'
Damian Green, Theresa May's former de facto deputy, has said she will carry on working to get a Brexit deal.
'She will take the path of soldiering on because she sees the great duty of her and her Government is to get a Brexit deal. She will carry on for as long as she is Prime Minister doing that,' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
'Absolutely the last thing the country would need now would be a prime minister who walked away and said 'OK, choose someone else'. This is very serious. The next few days are really the crunch.'
Mr Green said the choice for MPs now lay between Mrs May's deal and a customs union - the option which came closest to winning a majority in Wednesday's indicative votes.
'If you want a deal, the choice is now between the Government's deal or a customs union. The customs union was only eight votes off winning yesterday,' he said.
'That's a slightly softer Brexit than the Government's deal. So that's the choice that faces MPs, even the most hard Brexit MPs.'
Downing Street was last night locked in frantic talks with the party in the hope of persuading the DUP's ten MPs to support the deal.
'They are tough negotiators,' one source said. 'It's not over yet.'
But one Cabinet minister said: 'If they don't move, then we don't have the votes.'
In a huge blow for the Prime Minister, DUP leader Arlene Foster (pictured last night on Sky News) said her party still could not support the deal because it 'poses a threat to the integrity of the UK'. Deputy leader of the DUP Nigel Dodds also ruled out abstaining
Cabinet minister Liz Truss said she wanted a Canada-style trade deal with the EU after Brexit as she urged Tory and DUP MPs to back Theresa May's Withdrawal Agreement.
Addressing the British Chambers of Commerce conference, the Treasury Chief Secretary said there was a 'dawning realisation that the deal the Prime Minister has set out is the deal that will allow us to move forward as a country'.
'The alternatives that have been proposed by Parliament, and we saw that in the House yesterday, do not command support, some of them aren't negotiable.
'What I want to do today is strongly encourage colleagues of mine from the Conservative Party and other parties to back the Prime Minister's deal so we can get on with the next stage of negotiations which is the really important part of us being able to secure a good trade deal with the EU.'
She added: 'I'm a free trader, I believe that we need to open our economy to the rest of the world, I would like to see us do a Canada-style free trade deal once we have left the EU.'
MPs last night rejected every Brexit option in a series of 'indicative votes', with a customs union, second referendum, Norway-style option and No Deal all failing to get a majority.
But the two options with the closest votes were for any Brexit deal to put put to the people for a 'confirmatory vote' (268 for and 295 against) and to leave the EU with a customs union (264 for and 272 against).
These options are set to be further debated on Monday in the Commons and will be put to another vote if Mrs May fails to convince enough MPs to get her withdrawal agreement passed before then.
Mrs May is hoping the threat of a 'confirmatory vote' from the electorate or 'soft' Brexit by leaving the EU with a customs union will cajole further hardline Brexiteers to support her deal.
This, and the PM's 'Back me, then sack me' plea, sets the scene for a third attempt to pass her Brexit plan tomorrow – the day Britain was due to leave the EU.
Mrs May becomes the fourth consecutive Tory prime minister to have their career wrecked by the issue of Europe.
Pressure on her to quit had been building in recent weeks, with Eurosceptic MPs unhappy with her deal, warning that they wanted a new leader to take forward the next stage of Brexit negotiations.
A senior Tory said party whips believed up to 30 Eurosceptic MPs would back Mrs May's deal only if she agreed to go.
Chancellor Philip Hammond and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling were pictured leaving Parliament last tonight following the PM's shock announcement
What PM needs to edge to victory... by just 2 votes. There are 235 Tory loyalists, 10 switchers, 30 who with back the deal if May quits, 10 DUP supporters and 24 Labour
Addressing the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs last night, an emotional Mrs May acknowledged that Brexit turmoil had been 'a testing time for our country and our party'. She called on MPs to do their 'historic duty' and back her plan.
But she acknowledged concerns about her own leadership, saying: 'I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party.
'I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won't stand in the way of that.'
Her dramatic move fired the starting gun on what promises to be a bruising Tory leadership contest this summer that will choose the next prime minister.
Tory sources said that if Mrs May's plan passes, a leadership contest will start shortly after May 22, when the UK finally leaves the EU.
However, No 10 refused to say whether she would still depart on the same timetable if her plan is blocked or defeated.
One source said it would be 'a different scenario', adding: 'It's hard to see how we could have time for a leadership contest in quite the same way if we're still in the middle of trying to take us out.'
Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey has said Labour is ready to work with other parties to resolve the Brexit deadlock.
'What is imperative now is that parties across the House - and certainly Jeremy (Corbyn) is going to be doing that before Monday - work with each other to find reasonable compromises to try to navigate a way out of this,' she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
'If the Government can't find a majority - and there isn't a majority for anything in Parliament - the only option to take things forward is a general election.
'I know there are many MPs who don't agree with that synopsis so in order to overcome this impasse we have got to reach a compromise.'
Labour former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, who tabled a motion calling for any Brexit deal to be put to a 'confirmatory' referendum, said MPs now need to be prepared to compromise.
'They are going to have to look over the abyss,' she told Today.
'For some of them, they were so wedded to particular proposals, and they so passionately believed that those were right, that they didn't want anything get in the way.'
She added: 'The reason there is all this fuss about how terrible it was is because the people who want no-deal want it to look as if everything has failed so we have to go their way.'
Jubilant anti-Brexit MPs started singing the EU anthem Beethoven's 9th symphony, Ode to Joy, in the Commons chamber last night as Mrs May's hopes of getting her deal through faded.
In a fresh twist before Mrs May's announcement, John Bercow yesterday afternoon threatened new Brexit chaos by throwing doubts over Mrs May's efforts to get her deal through the Commons by Friday
Remainer ex-Tory MP Anna Soubry, a member of the breakaway TIG independent group, conducted a mock choir of MPs. Then she tried to get fellow pro-Europeans to join her in a Mexican wave; several other TIG, Scots Nat and Labour MPs joined in.
The riotous scenes came during the wait for the result of the votes on the alternative Brexit options shortly after 9pm.
The antics appeared to have been triggered when news of the DUP's latest rejection of Mrs May's plan reached MPs, dramatically reducing her hopes of getting the withdrawal agreement through.
It was followed by a row as Tory loyalists tried to stop the 'soft Brexit' motions that won most votes in the Commons last night being voted on again on Monday.
Former Tory chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin accused Mr Bercow of double standards by allowing a second vote when he had ruled against a third vote on Mrs May's deal earlier yesterday.
The Speaker rejected his demand. Allies of the PM said she had reluctantly made the decision to quit over the past fortnight, following conversations with close political friends and her husband Philip.
Mr May stood by her side as she made a 'moving' speech to tearful staff in No 10 after making her announcement to MPs last night. Allies said the decision reflected her determination to push through a plan she believes is 'firmly in the national interest'.
One said: 'She had other options but she has put her country first. It is typically selfless.'
Justice Secretary David Gauke described her address to MPs as a 'very touching, moving speech'.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said: 'There was a sadness in the room when she said she was going to go and a feeling that she has done what she promised. She has fulfilled her commitment to putting the country first.'
Mr Rees-Mogg said: 'There was a great deal of sympathy for the Prime Minister in the room and a recognition that she is both brave and dutiful and that there was a nobility in her statement that she was putting the interests as she sees them of the country and the party first and sacrificing herself.'
Her former policy adviser George Freeman said that the PM had 'tears not far from her eyes' as she admitted: 'I have made many mistakes. I am only human. I beg you, colleagues, vote for the withdrawal agreement and I will go.'
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: 'She is doing what she thinks is in the national interest.
'I have utmost respect for her. She has an incredible sense of duty. She sees her duty to deliver Brexit and she put that ahead of her own personal interest. It's another day in which she has put the national interest before her personal interest.'
But Labour MP Wes Streeting said the prospect of Mrs May being replaced by a Brexiteer prime minister would make it even harder to secure Labour support.
Mr Streeting said: 'Any commitments or guarantees made by Theresa May to the House of Commons are meaningless. A hard Brexiteer will be leading the country to a harder Brexit.'
What sort of Brexit DO MPs want? Commons shows support for a second referendum, a customs union and Labour's plan for a soft Brexit but with no clear majority for any option
The backbench plot to snatch control of Brexit hit a wall last night as none of the alternatives to Theresa May's deal secured a majority - but MPs still showed Britain they favour a softer Brexit or a second referendum - and will never deliver No Deal.
Last night, in an unprecedented move, politicians seized control of the Commons timetable from Theresa May to hold so-called indicative votes.
The poll showed Parliament is close to agreeing on a soft Brexit with a plan for the UK remaining in a customs union with the EU defeated by 272 votes to 264, while a second referendum was rejected by 295 votes to 268.
MPs were handed green ballot papers on which they voted Yes or No to eight options, ranging from No Deal to cancelling Brexit altogether. However, the votes descended into shambles as MPs rejected each and every one of the proposals - although its architect Sir Oliver Letwin always warned there wouldn't be a winner first time.
Ten Tories – including ministers Sir Alan Duncan, Mark Field and Stephen Hammond – supported an SNP plan to give MPs the chance to revoke Article 50 if a deal has not been agreed two days before Brexit. Some 60 Tory MPs backed the option of remaining in the single market.
These are the results of last night's indicative votes on Brexit, in order of preference. It shows that while MPs can't find a consensus they lean heavily towards a softer Brexit or second referendum
Tory MP Oliver Letwin (pictured in the Commons today) began today's proceedings after his amendment on Monday night tore up the usual Commons agenda to allow last night's votes
The results of Wednesday's votes, in order of preference, were:
- Confirmatory public vote (second referendum) - defeated by 295 voted to 268, majority 27.
- Customs union - defeated by 272 votes to 264, majority eight.
- Labour's alternative plan - defeated by 307 votes to 237, majority 70.
- Revocation to avoid no-deal - defeated by 293 votes to 184, majority 109.
- Common market 2.0: defeated by 283 votes to 188, majority 95.
- No Deal: defeated by 400 votes to 160, majority 240.
- Contingent preferential arrangements - defeated by 422 votes to 139, majority 283.
- Efta and EEA: defeated by 377 votes to 65, majority 312.
Shadow housing minister Melanie Onn resigned after Jeremy Corbyn ordered his MPs to back a raft of soft Brexit plans, as well as a second referendum.
Some 27 Labour MPs defied the whip to reject a so-called 'confirmatory vote' on any Brexit deal. The party had instructed them to support the plan just hours after one of its senior frontbenchers publicly warned that it would be a mistake.
Sir Oliver Letwin, the architect of the Commons move, today insisted the indicative votes were not intended to give a precise answer right away - and will hold another round of votes on Monday.
MPs are due to hold a second round of votes - unless Mrs May can get her deal through first - after none of the eight options debated on Wednesday was able to command a majority. It could be that the eight options are cut down to the most popular.
Sir Oliver told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'At some point or other we either have to get her deal across the line or accept that we have to find some alternative if we want to avoid no deal on the 12th, which I think at the moment is the most likely thing to happen.
'At the moment we are heading for a situation where, under the law, we leave without a deal on the 12th, which many of us think is not a good solution, and the question is 'Is Parliament on Monday willing to come to any view in the majority about that way forward that doesn't involve that result?''
MPs will take control of the Commons order paper again on Monday, so they can narrow down the options if Mrs May's deal has not been agreed by then – or pass legislation to try and impose their choice on her. Speaking in the Commons after the results, Sir Oliver said: 'It is of course a great disappointment that the House has not chosen to find a majority for any proposition.
'However, those of us who put this proposal forward as a way of proceeding predicted that we would not even reach a majority and for that very reason put forward a ... motion designed to reconsider these matters on Monday.'
Theresa May (pictured returning to Parliament) sensationally promised to quit Downing Street in return for Tory Brexiteer rebels passing her deal as she admitted her time as Prime Minister was almost over
The Prime Minister allowed her MPs to vote however they wanted on the choices after she was warned around ten junior ministers would quit if they were whipped against backing a soft Brexit.
She and the Cabinet abstained on the indicative votes, helping her to mask the wide gaping divisions among her senior ministers on the way forward.
Commons Speaker John Bercow selected eight out of the 16 Brexit options tabled by MPs for a vote, turning down proposals to demand a unilateral right to leave the Northern Irish 'backstop ' or to require automatic revocation of Article 50 if No Deal is reached. He also rejected the so-called Malthouse Compromise Plan A – drawn up by backbenchers from Leave and Remain wings of the Tory Party – which would have implemented Mrs May's deal with the backstop replaced by 'alternative arrangements'.
Ahead of the votes, Mrs May warned she would not regard the results as binding. But former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke yesterday told BBC Radio 5 Live the Prime Minister 'would obviously have to be removed' if she ignored a consensus emerging from the indicative votes process.
Labour ordered its MPs to back a motion, tabled by former foreign secretary Dame Margaret Beckett, requiring any Brexit deal passed during this Parliament to be confirmed in a public referendum before ratification. The party also whipped its MPs to back its own alternative Brexit plan – but four Labour backbenchers voted against it. Three others – including party chairman Ian Lavery – voted for a 'managed' No Deal. Mr Corbyn had also encouraged his MPs to back the so-called Common Market 2.0 plan tabled by Mr Clarke – which would keep the country in the single market as well as a customs arrangement – but did not whip them to do so.
At Prime Minister's Questions, Mrs May criticised the Labour leader over his support for a customs union and a second referendum. She said: 'Whatever happened to straight-talking honest politics?' In a tweet, the Department for Exiting the European Union warned that the Common Market 2.0 plan 'would not respect the referendum result'.
'[It] would not end free movement of people, would not let us set our own trade policy, would not stop us sending money to the EU, [and] would make us a rule taker,' the message added.
A number of Tory MPs refused to take part in the votes. Aldershot MP Leo Docherty said none of the options presented a 'coherent path towards Brexit'. He tweeted: 'This is an exercise in Parliamentary navel-gazing and I will be abstaining.' Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom earlier warned that MPs had turned the normal 'precedent on its head' by taking control of the order paper, which sets out the parliamentary timetable for the day. She said: 'Those who are not in government are deciding the business, and there are inevitable ramifications to that.'
But former Tory chief whip Andrew Mitchell said Sir Oliver had played 'an absolute blinder' by making clear to Brexiteers the consequences of continuing to oppose the PM's deal. He said: 'I think Sir Oliver Letwin has laid out for all my friends and colleagues in the ERG the instruments of torture, of what awaits them if they do not support Mrs May's deal the next time it comes to a vote.'
Allies of PM said she had reluctantly made the decision to quit over the past fortnight, following conversations with close political friends and her husband Philip.
Mr May stood by her side as she made a 'moving' speech to tearful staff in No 10 after making her announcement to MPs last night. Allies said the decision reflected her determination to push through a plan she believes is 'firmly in the national interest'.
One said: 'She had other options but she has put her country first. It is typically selfless' - but it is unclear if it can save her deal.
The DUP's support is seen as critical to unlocking the backing of dozens of Eurosceptic MPs.
Downing Street was last night locked in frantic talks with the party in the hope of persuading its ten MPs to support the deal.
'They are tough negotiators,' one source said. 'It's not over yet.'
But one Cabinet minister said: 'If they don't move, then we don't have the votes.'
MPs last night rejected every Brexit option in a series of 'indicative votes', with a customs union, second referendum, Norway-style option and No Deal all failing to get a majority.
That, and the PM's 'Back me, then sack me' plea, sets the scene for a third attempt to pass her Brexit plan tomorrow – the day Britain was due to leave the EU.
Mrs May becomes the fourth consecutive Tory prime minister to have their career wrecked by the issue of Europe.
Pressure on her to quit had been building in recent weeks, with Eurosceptic MPs unhappy with her deal, warning that they wanted a new leader to take forward the next stage of Brexit negotiations.
A senior Tory said party whips believed up to 30 Eurosceptic MPs would back Mrs May's deal only if she agreed to go.
Addressing the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs last night, an emotional Mrs May acknowledged that Brexit turmoil had been 'a testing time for our country and our party'. She called on MPs to do their 'historic duty' and back her plan.
But she acknowledged concerns about her own leadership, saying: 'I have heard very clearly the mood of the parliamentary party.
'I know there is a desire for a new approach – and new leadership – in the second phase of the Brexit negotiations – and I won't stand in the way of that.'
Her dramatic move fired the starting gun on what promises to be a bruising Tory leadership contest this summer that will choose the next prime minister.
Tory sources said that if Mrs May's plan passes, a leadership contest will start shortly after May 22, when the UK finally leaves the EU. However, No 10 refused to say whether she would still depart on the same timetable if her plan is blocked or defeated.
One source said it would be 'a different scenario', adding: 'It's hard to see how we could have time for a leadership contest in quite the same way if we're still in the middle of trying to take us out.'
The 'Stop Boris' Tory leadership 'dream ticket'? Sajid Javid's team are trying to convince Michael Gove to stand aside and accept being Chancellor to install 'The Saj' in No 10 to sabotage Johnson
As Tory leadership jockeying gathers pace, MailOnline understands allies of Sajid Javid are contemplating a ‘dream ticket’ with Michael Gove that could see the pair move into No10 and No11 respectively.
They are mulling whether Jeremy Hunt could be offered Home Secretary to drop his candidacy as part of the pact, while Penny Mordaunt and Andrea Leadsom could also be handed promotions to fall into line.
There are fears that unless the main Cabinet contenders come to an arrangement between themselves their support could splinter, opening the door for Boris Johnson.
Many believe that if he gets enough endorsements from MPs to be in the final two voted on by Tory activists he will win, but his support on the backbenches is limited.
A senior Tory source described Javid as PM and Gove as Chancellor as a 'grown up and sensible solution' that would match the current Environment Secretary's strategic thinking with the Home Secretary's public appeal and bring 'stability' at the top of the party.
'We know Michael Gove's limitations in terms of public appeal, Lynton Crosby made that very clear in 2014. He has some clear challenges to get over the line without many of the Brexit supporters who will never forgive what happened with Boris Johnson in 2016.
'Sajid Javid has broad support around the country, the polling evidence proves that. And the fact that he has a back story that no one else in the party has.'
More than a dozen Tory MPs are poised to launch bids for the leadership after Theresa May announced she will quit if her Brexit deal is voted through.
Another MP said today: 'It's like the start line of the Grand National, but in the end Becher's Brook finds many out.'
Sajid Javid in Downing Street yesterday. Rmours are growing of a joint ticket that would see him enter Number 10 with Michael Gove as Chancellor
The betting favourite to take over the mantle at the moment is ardent Brexiteer Michael Gove (pictured right), with Boris Johnson (pictured left) a close second
As many as eight Cabinet ministers are expected to put their names forward, with Hunt, Gove and Javid among the frontrunners.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is seen as a strong outside bet, along with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson.
Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd is weighing up whether to run.
Among the Cabinet outsiders are Leader of the Commons Andrea Leadsom, who finished second in the 2016 leadership contest that Mrs May won, but is expected to have another tilt, along with Brexiteer International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.
Outside the Cabinet, the leading contenders are former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and former Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, both of whom quit Government posts over Mrs May’s Brexit plans and will be vying for votes among Eurosceptic MPs.
Other MPs attempting to garner support for a run include former Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey, Tory party vice-chairman James Cleverly, foreign affairs select committee chairman Tom Tugendhat, justice minister Rory Stewart and backbench MP Johnny Mercer.
Last night one MP said: ‘It’s going to be like Ben Hur – there’ll be a cast of thousands.’
Dominic Raab (pictured left) and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured right) are also strong betting favourites
Sajid Javid (pictured left) and Andrea Leadsom (pictured right) are also possible future leaders
Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, and ardent Remainer, and Chief Secretary to the treasury Liz Truss might also fancy a run at the leadership
Nigel Evans, joint-secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee, said: ‘There’s going to be more runners and riders than the Grand National.’
Last night, bookmakers Ladbrokes installed Mr Gove and Mr Johnson as early joint favourites at 4/1 and Mr Hunt at 8/1, with Mr Raab and Mr Javid at 10/1. Not all the likely runners are serious about winning the top job, but hope to secure a better job in Cabinet by increasing their profile.
Several of the leading candidates have had ‘shadow’ campaign operations running for months in anticipation of Mrs May going, with supporters discreetly sounding out MPs.
The first phase of the contest will see all Tory MPs vote in a series of rounds to whittle down the candidates to the final two. Party members across the country then vote in a postal ballot to decide the winner.
Last night, No 10 officials said that if Mrs May’s deal goes through in the coming days and the UK leaves the EU on May 22, she will resign as Tory leader but stay on as caretaker until the contest is finished. She would go to Japan for the G20 at the end of June, meaning the contest would last about six weeks.
Mr Hunt has long been seen as a frontrunner because of his seniority and experience, but could suffer from the ‘favourite’ tag. His opponents have labelled him ‘Continuity May’.
Mr Javid’s hopes have taken a series of blows in recent months over his handling of the case of teenager Shamima Begum who ran off from her home in east London to join Isis, and for his claim to be taking control of a migration crisis while on holiday in South Africa.
Allies of Mr Johnson believe if he gets to the final round he is likely to win because of his huge popularity among grassroots Tories.
There is also speculation about Mr Johnson and Miss Rudd forming a powerful joint ticket, which would bring together a leading Brexiteer and a leading Remainer and could help reunite the party.
Mr Gove’s prospects have sky-rocketed in recent weeks after several barnstorming performances at the despatch box, including his closing speech in the no confidence debate in January when he savaged Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
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News Photo Brexit: Boris Johnson says Theresa May's deal is 'dead'
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