Theresa May set to quit in July after launching final Brexit push – but will it be enough to stop Tory coup?
The PM has revealed a do-or-die bid to get her Brexit deal through in 2mths
THERESA May is on course to quit as PM at the end of July after announcing a last-ditch Brexit gamble.
The Prime Minister has vowed to push her deal through the Commons within two months - or it will be killed off for good.
The move suggests she plans to leave No10 in time for a leadership election which will take place over the summer holidays.
Mrs May will explain the timetable to Tory grandees tomorrow at a meeting where she'll try to persuade them not to greenlight a coup against her.
She will bring the crucial Withdrawal Agreement Bill to Parliament in the first week of June with a view to getting it signed off by the end of July.
The Cabinet yesterday agreed it's essential to get Britain out of the EU in time for the Commons' summer recess.
LAST CHANCE
The PM has previously said she would stand down as soon as her Brexit deal is approved.
If the Withdrawal Agreement Bill fails, her deal will be dead - almost certainly triggering Mrs May's resignation.
Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said today: "If the House of Commons does not approve the WAB then the Barnier deal is dead in that form.
"The house will have to then address a much more fundamental question between whether it will pursue and communicate on a No Deal option or whether it will revoke."
The timetable implies that Mrs May will be gone by the end of July in any case, with a new leader likely to take over at the party conference in early October.
Tomorrow the PM will be summoned to address the senior Tory MPs who run the powerful 1922 Committee.
They have threatened to trigger a new leadership challenge if she refuses to explain when she plans to leave office.
But the newly revealed timeline may be enough to convince them there's no need to push her out earlier.
Today fervent Brexiteer Peter Bone told Mrs May to her face she should resign before next Thursday's Euro elections.
Speaking a Prime Minister's Questions, he read out a summary of Tory activists from his Wellingborough constituency.
Mr Bone blasted: "They say that her deal is worse than staying in the EU, that they want us to come out now on a no-deal basis, and third, more importantly, they've lost confidence in the Prime Minister and wish her to resign before the European elections."
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