Theresa May declares ‘I got us into this mess and I’m going to get us out’ as she faces down furious backbench MPs at fiery 1922 Committee
THERESA May grovelled to Conservative MPs — admitting the general election “mess” was all her fault.
Angry Tory grandees hauled the Prime Minister in front of the 1922 Committee of all ministers and backbenchers to explain the election disaster that destroyed their Commons majority.
Mrs May told them: “I’m the person who got us into this mess — and I’m the one who will get us out of it.”
The PM also made it clear to her unhappy party that she would fall on her sword and resign when she knew she had lost their confidence.
It was also said that she accepted that the British public had had enough of austerity after Boris Johnson, David Davis and other top Tories told her she'd got it wrong in the election campaign.
The Sun can also reveal the PM’s top table told her she must offer Brits “more hope”.
On another day of high drama in Westminster after the tumultuous poll:
- Senior ministers confirmed the Queen’s Speech could be delayed because of Hung Parliament turmoil – ripping up the Queen’s Royal Ascot plans.
- Theresa May was urged to dump “insane” manifesto policies like bringing back fox hunting and her controversial social care shake-up from the ‘Queen’s Speech’.
- Victorious Scots Tory boss Ruth Davidson risked angering party chiefs yesterday as she called on Theresa May to join forces with Labour to deliver Brexit.
- Sinn Fein’s seven MPs will fly into London today to take up their Commons offices — sparking Tory fears they are plotting to wreck the PM’s wafer thin majority backbench MPs began to rally round the PM last night after her extraordinary grovel.
What is the 1922 Committee?
It might be Britain’s most influential group of men and women you’ve never heard of.
Made up of Conservative Party backbench MPs — so not sitting in the Cabinet — they can decide the fate of a party leader, and thus the Prime Minister.
The 1922 Committee — formally known as the Conservative Private Members’ Committee — assembles weekly when Parliament is in session.
It gives backbench Tory MPs the chance to air their concerns, report on constituency work and co-ordinate legislative agendas.
And all this is done without fear of reprisal from Cabinet ministers (or Shadow Cabinet frontbenchers if the Tories are in opposition) because they are not permitted to be formal members.
Only since 2010 have frontbenchers been given an open invitation to attend meetings.
They are still under the control of the party whips, so their ability to stoke insurrection is partly limited.
But it is the Committee that assesses, organises and ballots on leadership challenges — meaning its power, when called upon, can be huge.
Who are the key figures in the 1922 Committee?
The Committee has an 18-member executive that organises weekly meetings and other business.
They earned the nickname “men in suits” or “men in grey suits” in the 1980s after prompting the resignation of Margaret Thatcher.
The chairman, currently Altrincham and Sale West MP Graham Brady, is in charge of overseeing leadership challenges.
How does it carry out leadership challenges?
Unless the leader steps down voluntarily, a leadership challenge usually begins with a vote of no confidence being called.
This is triggered when 15 per cent of Tory MPs write a letter to the 1922 Committee chairman.
The last time this happened was in 2003 when 25 MPs wrote to spark a vote on then leader Iain Duncan Smith, who was ousted a day later.
Where does the 1922 Committee get its name from?
The 1922 Committee was actually founded in 1923.
But its name comes from a famous meeting the previous year in which Conservative MPs called for the party to pull out of the coalition with the Liberals, led by PM David Lloyd George.
This move triggered a General Election which the Tories then won.
The committee first started out as a private dining club but quickly expanded and by 1926 all Conservative backbench MPs were permitted to be members.
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Ministers who have been seething for 72 hour with Mrs May also began to speak out for her.
Tory peer Lord Flight said: “She was very contrite. She did a lot better than I expected, so people are happier now”.
The PM meets DUP party boss Arlene Foster today in a bid to see a deal with the Ulster unionists’ 10 MPs to keep her government in power.
