Only last week Theresa May was facing suggestions that she would be gone by Christmas

Theresa May is being urged to delay her departure until close to the next election to avoid the Tory party engaging in a bloody battle that could ruin trade talks with the EU before they are complete.

Cabinet ministers and senior backbenchers fear that any resignation before 2021 could be ruinous for the party and thwart the delicate negotiations, which are likely to continue after Brexit in March 2019.

This view contrasts starkly with the position barely a fortnight ago, when the prime minister was facing suggestions that she would struggle to remain in the job much beyond Christmas, and when she lost a Commons vote last week.

One cabinet minister told The Times: “She is not one to up sticks and leave. I’m