Over half of Tory party members think Theresa May should quit as leader before 2022 in blow to her plan to fight the next election
The Prime Minister said last week she wanted to go into the next election as leader, but many MPs have refused to publicly back her plans
MORE than half of Tory members say Theresa May should quit as Prime Minister and leader before 2022 - dashing her hopes to fight another election.
Last week the PM said she wanted to go on for longer than she previously said, as she said "I'm not a quitter".
But MPs have refused to publicly back her plans, and have expressed scepticism over whether she should continue as leader for the long term.
Forty percent of Tories say it is unthinkable that the Prime Minister will lead the party into the next election.
A new poll yesterday of Tory voters revealed that Boris Johnson was favourite to replace the PM, with backbencher Jacob Rees Mogg coming in second.
And today we get the same message from the members of the party themselves - with more than half thinking she should quit as party leader before 2022.
, however, perhaps because there is no real consensus on who would replace her.
And Conservatives don't want to risk an election now in case they end up handing the reigns of power over to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour.
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51 per cent said she should quit before the next election is due, the poll said.
After Mrs May lost her majority following the disastrous election in June, she told backbench MPs she would serve "as long as you want me".
The week's comments, which came on the last day of a trip to Japan to promote post-Brexit trade, are likely to throw up chaos for the PM ahead of the Tory party conference in just a few weeks time.
And today it was revealed that Jacob Rees Mogg, the eccentric backbencher who has soared in popularity in recent weeks, is being lined up for a ministerial job.
The Somerset MP has said he isn't interested in running to be PM, but the move could be a way of testing whether he would be suitable.