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Five former Cabinet ministers have joined a plot to force Theresa May to quit, the Standard can reveal.

A 30-strong group plans to send a delegation to No 10 to ask the Prime Minister to resign before Christmas.

Pressure on Mrs May to fall on her sword grew after her party conference speech, billed as a “fightback”, turned into a fiasco yesterday as it was interrupted by a prankster and Mrs May’s coughing fit.

Former minister Ed Vaizey confirmed that “quite a few” of her MPs want her to resign, while a senior backbencher put on record that at least 30 MPs were involved in the plot to confront her as a delegation.

The Prime Minister was spending today and tomorrow in her constituency, as recriminations grew over the latest Tory misfire. Mr Vaizey, the former culture minister who is still a trade envoy for the Prime Minister, said he saw no “way forward” for her.

Speaking to BBC Oxford, the Wantage MP, who was sacked when Mrs May became Prime Minister in July 2016, said a number of Tory MPs “pretty firmly” want her to go. “I think there will be quite a few people who will now be pretty firmly of the view that she should resign.”

Asked if he thought she should step aside, Mr Vaizey said: “I find it increasingly difficult to see a way forward at the moment and it worries me.”

He voiced dismay at the party’s conference, saying: “The Tory Party conference was the great opportunity to reboot the party and therefore reboot the country, to give it a clear sense of direction and that didn’t happen. So yes, I am concerned.”

A senior Conservative said: “We all realise the game is up. It would be better if she were to start the process, with a new leader before Christmas.”

However, Mark Pritchard, a former secretary of the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, tweeted: “Trying to drum up a delegation of 30 MPs to try and circumvent this process is irregular, cowardly and will ultimately fail.

“Any minister with premature ambitions needs to put up or shut up and allow the Prime Minister to get on with her day job.”

Under party rules 48 names are needed to force a confidence vote in the party leader, triggered if they all write to the 1922 chairman Sir Graham Brady.

The plot for a delegation is required because there are currently not enough names to trigger the vote under the rules.

Mr Pritchard voiced loyalty to Mrs May, with an apparent disparaging reference to Boris Johnson: “Better to have a prime minister who coughs during one speech than someone who wants to be prime minister who makes most audiences splutter in most of his speeches.”

Privately, some other MPs said Mrs May had lost her authority. “Sympathy is not a substitute,” said one.

In a day of recriminations, knives were out for party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin after the “pitiable” conference ended in a shambles.

Lee Nelson interrupts Tory Conference - In pictures 11 show all Lee Nelson interrupts Tory Conference - In pictures 1/11 Comedian Simon Brodkin, hands Prime Minister Theresa May a 'P45' in character as Lee Nelson during her keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference Reuters 2/11 The prankster was ushered out of the Tory conference afterwards Reuters 3/11 He gave a thumbs up to senior Tories after what was described as a major security breach Jeremy Selwyn 4/11 The comedian ruffled the Prime Minister's feathers with his prank PA 5/11 The 'P45' form had the words 'neither strong or stable' printed on it PA 6/11 A close-up of Theresa May being handed the form Reuters 7/11 The form that was given to the Prime Minister Jeremy Selwyn 8/11 He addressed senior members of the conservative party. Here the Prankster speaks to Amber Rudd Jeremy Selwyn 9/11 Comedian Simon Brodkin, also known as Lee Nelson is led out of the Conservative Party Conference PA 10/11 He was promptly ejected from the auditorium Jeremy Selwyn 11/11 Simon Bodkin, also known as Lee Nelson being put into a police van after confronting Prime Minister Theresa May during her keynote speech PA 1/11 Comedian Simon Brodkin, hands Prime Minister Theresa May a 'P45' in character as Lee Nelson during her keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference Reuters 2/11 The prankster was ushered out of the Tory conference afterwards Reuters 3/11 He gave a thumbs up to senior Tories after what was described as a major security breach Jeremy Selwyn 4/11 The comedian ruffled the Prime Minister's feathers with his prank PA 5/11 The 'P45' form had the words 'neither strong or stable' printed on it PA 6/11 A close-up of Theresa May being handed the form Reuters 7/11 The form that was given to the Prime Minister Jeremy Selwyn 8/11 He addressed senior members of the conservative party. Here the Prankster speaks to Amber Rudd Jeremy Selwyn 9/11 Comedian Simon Brodkin, also known as Lee Nelson is led out of the Conservative Party Conference PA 10/11 He was promptly ejected from the auditorium Jeremy Selwyn 11/11 Simon Bodkin, also known as Lee Nelson being put into a police van after confronting Prime Minister Theresa May during her keynote speech PA

One furious backbencher told the Standard: “Patrick is a Filofax chairman. We need a Facebook chairman. He should have resigned the day after the disastrous election night. He should now be sacked.”

Another said: “Somebody has to take responsibility for the shambles of the past week, frankly. Everyone likes Patrick but he has completely f***ed up. The word is that he tried to resign after the election but she got him to stay on.”

Friends of Sir Patrick say he is feeling bruised by the attacks and fear he is being set up as the fall guy to take responsibility for yesterday’s speech.

They say he is a party loyalist and would resign without fuss if the Prime Minister asked him to — but also point out that he opposed her disastrous decision to hold the snap election.

Mrs May’s former aide Nick Timothy said this week’s party conference had failed to address the key challenges of Brexit and the electorate’s desire for change.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, he said: “Confronted with these challenges, the Conservatives failed to rise to the occasion at their conference, just as they have failed to do so since the election result sparked their crisis of confidence.”

Former MP Paul Goodman, now editor of ConservativeHome, said it was a “pitiable conference” staged by a “directionless party”.

In an interview with the BBC, David Cameron’s former policy adviser, Baroness Cavendish, said: “She has not really risen to the challenge ... I think people are now really wondering if she can keep going.”

The knives are also out for Boris Johnson, whose headline-hogging behaviour overshadowed the conference. Several MPs are understood to have asked for it to be discussed by the 1922 Committee executive next week.

A senior Tory MP said: “Boris Johnson is in serious trouble. A lot of the MPs feel he hijacked the conference.

“I wouldn’t underestimate the anger that has been felt towards him. The self-serving indulgent behaviour. We haven’t got a Foreign Secretary at the moment and he didn’t give a speech on foreign affairs.”