Outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May has vowed to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal by aligning with Remainers in the Tory Party including Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd and Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.

Sources close to Mrs May told The Mail on Sunday that despite her failure to pass the EU-approved withdrawal treaty, she has “not budged” from her position that UK should not leave the bloc unless it has an exit deal.

One ally told the Sunday newspaper: “She made little secret of the fact that she did not want Boris to succeed her, and if you study everything she has said it is clear where she now is on No Deal. The best hope is that Boris is bluffing as usual.”

Mr Johnson, the bookies’ favourite to replace Mrs May as Conservative Party leader and prime minister, has said that the UK will leave the EU on October 31st “with or without a deal”.

The Mail also revealed that Mrs May had voted for ultra-Remainer Rory Stewart in Thursday’s first ballot of MPs. Mr Stewart has vowed that if he becomes prime minister, he will not let the country leave until he has secured a deal with the European Union that will pass in the House of Commons — despite frequent warnings from European leaders and bureaucrats that the deal will not be renegotiated.

“At the end of the day Mrs May believes the only way to leave is with a deal and Rory is the only candidate really sticking to that,” a senior Conservative told The Mail on Sunday.

“No one has asked her but she values loyalty, and while he was quick out the traps in saying he wanted to run, Rory spent most of the year defending her,” another ally of Mrs May said.

Interim Prime Minister for Life? May Will Only Go If Successor Has ‘Confidence’ of MPs https://t.co/BlFHKwi0EL — Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 6, 2019

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage called Mrs May’s tenure as prime minister a “failure” last week, saying: “To deliver Brexit, you’ve got to believe in it, because you have got to stand up against many in the political class, and I am afraid she just never believed in it.”

Prime Minister May’s spokesman told media in early June that while she would step down as party leader, she would remain as prime minister until she “believes that someone else can command the confidence” of MPs.