Supporters of Cabinet contenders for the Number 10 hot seat made clear in private they do not want a leadership challenge before the first stage of Brexit is resolved, even if cross-party talks with Labour fail to yield positive results, sources told The Times. They fear a summer leadership challenge before Theresa May can get her Brexit deal thorough Parliament would provide Brexiteer rivals Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab with vital momentum, both of whom have pledged to re-open talks with Brussels. The Prime Minister has come under huge pressure following her decision to accept a deadline of October 31 from Brussels to extend the Article 50 process and to begin talks with Jeremy Corbyn as she desperately looks for ways to build support for her Brexit deal.
Mrs May has vowed to quit once this first stage of negotiations is complete, but one source backing a Cabinet rival told The Times their candidate would be “perfectly happy” for her to remain in office until December when, under the Tory leadership rules, she can next face a confidence vote.
The source said: “We want a contest after the first stage of Brexit has been sorted so we can talk about other things.
“Most leading contenders do not want an early challenge, even if that means waiting and supporting the Prime Minister until December.”
A supporter of another leading candidate warned their leadership campaign would be damaged if an election took place amongst the continued Brexit chaos when they would want to make pledges for the future.
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Theresa May has been urged to remain as Prime Minister until later this year (Image: GETTY)
I think what the Prime Minister has to do is aim everything now towards the departure of the Euros, which would then allow her to step away, having done what she said she would do, getting the UK out of the EU one way or the other
Iain Duncan Smith
They said: “No one is going to be able to offer a purer form of Brexit from inside the Cabinet.”
A separate source said holding a leadership campaign at such a time would lead to an “extraordinary burst of
