Tory coup plotter Grant Shapps complains that other MPs are abusing him online after his bid to depose Theresa May
The former party chairman compared his treatment by fellow Tories to cyber-bullying
CHIEF Tory plotter Grant Shapps has complained about being bullied by other MPs after it emerged that he was leading efforts to force out Theresa May.
The former party chairman was outed as the ringleader of an attempted coup against the Prime Minister last week, after Mrs May’s chaotic conference speech.
Mr Shapps has now emailed fellow Tories moaning about the “abuse and bile which has rained down since” - and insisting he never wanted to rock the boat.
The backbencher said last week that he had the names of 30 other Conservative MPs who want the PM to quit as soon as possible and allow another leader to guide Britain through Brexit.
He initially tried to plot in secret, but Downing Street officials apparently leaked his name to force him out in the open.
Explaining himself to other MPs in an email , Mr Shapps said he wanted to deal with the leadership question within the Tory party rather than debating it in public.
He said: “Rather than a list of concerned colleagues who wanted to express their thoughts to the PM, we were presented with talk of ‘plots’ and ‘ringleaders’.
“We now know that No 10 passed on the above information to our whips. They in turn briefed it as a sensationalist story.”
Mr Shapps claimed that all Tory MPs had gossiped about when Mrs May will step down - with all of them agreeing she should go by the end of 2019 at least.
He blasted colleagues who criticised his efforts to unseat the PM and compared them to online trolls.
He wrote: “The level of abuse and bile which has rained down since is simply unprecedented in my own experience of politics, and I’ve been a party chairman at election time, so that’s saying something!
“Sadly, it has come from many of our own colleagues, including those who most rail against cyberbullying.”
The plot fizzled out within hours of its being exposed last week with only a couple of other MPs joining Mr Shapps in calling for Mrs May’s resignation.
The whole Cabinet came out in support of the PM, while Brexit-backing MPs said she could be trusted to hold firm in talks on our EU departure.
Tory rebels would need to muster up the signatures of 48 MPs in order to trigger a formal vote of confidence in the Prime Minister.