David Davis was the one who pushed Theresa May into holding an early election – and she almost QUIT on election night, explosive new book reveals

DAVID DAVIS was the one who pushed Theresa May into holding an early vote and she almost QUIT on election night, an explosive new book reveals.

And there are claims the bombshell exit poll was LEAKED and even President Obama called to say he thought Labour were going to lose seats.

Lifting the lid on the inside story of the momentous 2017 election, 'Betting the house' by political journalists Tim Ross and Tom McTague said Chancellor Philip Hammond was totally frozen out of the campaign because No10 chiefs didn't like him.

Extracts from the book, , said that:

• Fiona Hill got a tip off about the exit poll from the BBC - rumoured to be from veteran broadcaster Andrew Marr who was looking for comment
• Philip May was worried about his wife's well-being and even HE thought she should think about quitting
• Mrs May was told to remain stony faced when asked about President Trump's 'grab them by the p****' comments and not to grimace

that it was the Brexit Secretary who pushed the PM into holding an early vote that saw her go on to lose her majority and was forced to go into a deal with the DUP in order to survive.

It said he wanted to get it done with now to try and stop the EU from forcing him to accept a poor Brexit deal right before another election was due.

He was alleged to have said to Tory election guru Sir Lynton Crosby: "I’m urging her to have an Election as early as possible. We’re well ahead in the polls and we’ll win."

Sir Lynton, who helped the Tories soar to victory in 2015, wasn't keen, but the Brexit Secretary pressed on with his plans regardless.

On election night the phones were buzzing right up until the exit poll - and a call even came in from President Obama saying his Labour sources thought they were about to lose seats.

"Back at Tory headquarters, they receive an important phone call. It’s Obama," the book said.

"The former US President knew someone working on Labour’s campaign who told him Corbyn is going to lose 20 or 30 seats – not enough to force Corbyn out.

"Obama told a Tory friend to pass on an encouraging message: Labour are expecting to lose seats, meaning the Tory majority will go up."

Senior Tories including the PM's former advisory Nick Timothy said they were feeling "good" about the result - before the disastrous exit poll rolled in at 10pm predicting a hung parliament.

But there are claims it was LEAKED to No 10 after the BBC rang to get reaction.

The book said: "But Marr now insists the conversation took place only ‘seconds’ before the official announcement. He believes Hill had already been given the results by somebody else. Were there two leaks from the BBC to the Tories that night?"

Officials denied there was an issue with the exit poll and told everyone: "it is all going to be ok".

But the devastated Prime Minister "broke down and wept" when she found out the true extent of her losses.

"Even husband Philip wondered if she should resign,"; it said.

Mrs May was considering chucking in the towel too, but a text of support from Boris Johnson, who she feared may try and oust her, pursued her to keep fighting.

The PM has repeatedly denied since that she was going to quit.

One said in an attempt to lift spirits after the dire results: "F*** it, the BBC’s never been right about anything in their lives."

The book also revealed that there was chat about holding an election as early as FEBRUARY.

Mrs May took a lot of persuading before making her decision on a walking holiday over the Easter weekend because: "she had only just made it into No10, and there was a risk that the election could go wrong and the Tories could lose".

Chancellor Philip Hammond was also fuming with being frozen out of the subsequent campaign and not putting forward proper costings for their manifesto, the book claimed.

It was said that No 10 aides didn't like him and he had "clashed too many times" with them in the past.

They regarded him with "suspicion and at times contempt" and decided to keep him out in the cold as much as possible.