Dominic Raab ‘in prime position’ to replace Theresa May after he delivered a bold PM pitch

FORMER Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab was last night tipped to be “in prime position” to replace Theresa May after he delivered a bold pitch for PM.

The ex-Cabinet minister, who resigned in protest at the PM’s Brexit deal, repeatedly refused to rule out running for the Tory leadership yesterday.

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When grilled in a major TV interview, he instead used it to offer alternative plan to defy Brussels and stare the EU down for a better exit deal.

Asked three times to rule out a leadership run, Mr Raab put rivals on notice by only saying: “I’m not getting sucked into all that”.

Insisting he would stare down the EU for either a better deal or to walk away without one, he added: “I do think we are being bullied, I do think we are being subjected to what is pretty close to blackmail frankly.

“There is a point at which we just say I’m sorry, this is the United Kingdom of Great Britain Northern Ireland, we cannot accept those dictator terms.”

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But Mr Raab also insisted he was backing Mrs May to stay on for now, and will not submit his own letter for a no confidence vote in her.

Revealing deep tensions between the hardline Brexiteers, Mr Raab also insisted that Boris Johnson is “a colleague not an ally”.

The performance delighted senior Brexiteers who declared he is now “in prime position to be the eurosceptics’ candidate”.

One influential figure told The Sun: “Dom has positioned himself for the longterm very well, and without having to get any blood on his hands over the s***ty bit of actually getting her out”.

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There are expected to be at least 10 serious candidates for the Tory leadership if Mrs May is toppled imminently. Eurosceptics’ efforts to persuade Brexiteer big beasts to agree on just one candidate to run to succeed Mrs May have failed so far.

On top of Mr Raab, prominent Leave campaigners Boris Johnson and David Davis are still both eyeing a run, as well as Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt.

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd, newly returned to the Cabinet, is expected to stand as the One Nation Tories’ candidate, along with one or two dark horses from the 2015 intake of Tory MPs.

And Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Home Secertary Sajid Javid and Treasury Chief Secretary Liz Truss are also all looking at standing as the compromise options.

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