More Conservatives have expressed doubts about Theresa May’s leadership, with one MP warning that the “window is closing” on her tenure and two former cabinet ministers suggesting she could be replaced when a Brexit deal is done.

About a dozen Tories have now been critical about the direction of May’s domestic agenda, casting further doubts on the stability of the prime minister’s position at a time when she is also struggling with rows about Brexit policy.

John Whittingdale, the former culture secretary, said it would not be an appropriate time to have a leadership election but suggested one could take place after March next year.

“Give her the opportunity to negotiate the best [Brexit] deal we have. Let’s see what comes out of that. We can then address issues of leadership after that,” he told LBC.

On the same programme, Nicky Morgan, the former education secretary, said it was not the right time for a contest but added: “We might revert to it in some months or years’ time, about who is going to lead the Conservative party.”

Johnny Mercer, a Conservative backbencher tipped as a rising star in the party, also said he did not support a change of leadership now but predicted May’s time could be running out.



“How long has the prime minister got? I am of the view that any sort of change in leadership is not helpful at the moment and I don’t support that, but I do think the window is closing because politics can be quite a brutal game,” he said at an event for the Resolution Foundation thinktank.

He added that pressure was inevitable “if you don’t answer the questions that people want us to answer” on issues such as defence, housing and the NHS.

The Plymouth Moor View MP was also scathing about May’s failure to get people on board with her vision. “You have to deliver. You can’t just always talk about the speech outside No 10 Downing Street – which was very very good.

“You have to bridge the gap between that and how it feels if you are suffering from mental health problems in a place like Plymouth,” he said.

Also criticising May’s government was Nick Timothy, her former co-chief of staff and the architect of the 2017 Conservative manifesto, who said the government was failing to show “purpose and direction”, arguing that “the lack of those things at the moment is what is causing the government its difficulties”.



He suggested May could embrace some of her critics such as the Conservative former minister Nick Boles and get them to come up with policies to help address major domestic problems.

“It feels increasingly clear that the country is tired of austerity and the public services are starting to feel the strain a little bit,” he said. “While the NHS needs reform it also needs more money, and I don’t think many people think the defence budget is sustainable. There’s quite a strong argument that fiscal policy needs to change.”

Criticism of the prime minister has intensified in the last week since Boles laid into the government’s “timidity and lack of ambition”. After that, Nicholas Soames, a normally loyal backbencher, said the government’s agenda was “dull, dull, dull”. Heidi Allen called on her to “get a grip” and Rob Halfon accused her of “policymaking by tortoise”, among other criticism.



Up to 40 MPs are believed to have submitted letters of no confidence to Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 committee, with more potentially poised to do so if the party performs badly in the May local elections. There would need to be 48 letters to trigger a vote of no confidence in the prime minister.

Charles Walker, the vice-chair of the 1922 committee, said anyone thinking the PM might be pressured into naming a date for her departure should “sit in a darkened room and put a cold towel over their heads”.

Tensions have also broken into the open in recent days over Brexit after leave supporters were furious with claims by the chancellor, Philip Hammond, that there might only be a “modest” change in the UK’s relationship with the bloc.

Several Tories, including Nadine Dorries and Marcus Fysh, have called for Hammond to be sacked, while Theresa Villiers, a former cabinet minister, warned that the government was “diluting Brexit” and that May was in danger of not respecting the result of the referendum.

The energy minister, Claire Perry, then further infuriated pro-leave MPs after it emerged she had privately described critics of the Brexit divorce bill as “the swivel-eyed few” in a WhatsApp group.

As the bookmakers’ odds of May leaving her post this year shortened, several senior Conservatives emerged on the airwaves to shore up the prime minister’s position.

Liam Fox, the trade secretary, told Bloomberg News that plotters against May would be “foolish to do anything to destabilise the government and the prime minister”.

He added: “Nothing will change the electoral arithmetic.”

Justine Greening, sacked by May as the education secretary earlier this month, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I remain a strong backer of the prime minister. I’ve been very disappointed to see the soundings off. I think they need to stop and I think people need to get behind her.”