From May to Morgan?…Brexiteers pushing for Nicky Morgan as a potential successor
4922 Mins Read
As speculation continues to grow that Theresa May’s days as Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader are counted, senior Brexiteers are touting Nicky Morgan the pro-EU former education secretary as a potential successor to Theresa May.
Morgan, a long-standing ally of Michael Gove, the Brexiteer Environment Secretary, becomes the latest of the 2010 intake of MPs to be touted as a leadership contender, along with Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, Dominic Raab the former Brexit Secretary, Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons and Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
This weekend MPs who had come to the conclusion that Mrs May must resign to end the Brexit impasse were urging members of the Cabinet to insist that she departs, or hands over control of the negotiations to senior ministers.
Several influential pro-Leave MPs have privately suggested that Mrs Morgan could be well-placed to stand as a “unity” candidate who could take over the Brexit negotiations and leadership of the Conservatives.
The remarks follow her role in drawing up the so-called Malthouse Compromise for Brexit, along with a coalition of staunch Brexiteers and senior MPs who campaigned to remain in the EU.
Mrs Morgan was a strong support of the Remain campaign and has stated that the mood in the country at the moment is ‘get on with it’ and patience on all sides is running out.”
Conservative MPs failed to oust Mrs May using the party’s formal procedures in December, meaning the process cannot be initiated again until December 2019.
