Theresa May has been warned that she is presiding over the ‘death of the Tory Party’ after a devastating poll revealed the immense scale of the grassroots revolt against her.

The exclusive Mail on Sunday survey shows that an astonishing 40 per cent of Conservative councillors are planning to vote for Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party in May’s European elections, in protest at the Prime Minister’s failure to conclude the UK’s exit from the EU.

Three-quarters of her own councillors want Mrs May to resign – and an overwhelming 96 per cent believe that the Tory Party has been damaged by the impasse.

The exclusive Mail on Sunday survey shows that an astonishing 40 per cent of Conservative councillors are planning to vote for Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party in May’s European elections, in protest at the Prime Minister’s failure to conclude the UK’s exit from the EU

Prime Minister Theresa May acts as a marshal during the Maidenhead Easter 10 race in maidenhead. Three-quarters of her own councillors want Mrs May to resign – and an overwhelming 96 per cent believe that the Tory Party has been damaged by the impasse

Mr Farage only launched his Brexit Party earlier this month, but one poll last week put its support for the European Parliament elections at 27 per cent – well ahead of both Labour, on 22 per cent, and the Tories, who were stuck on 15 per cent

Conservative MPs preparing to return to the Commons after the Easter break have been shaken by the strength of feeling in their local associations over Mrs May’s leadership, after she agreed to delay Brexit until the end of October if she cannot strike a deal.

Such is the scale of the anger that the party’s 1922 Committee of backbench MPs will convene on Tuesday to discuss changing the rules to allow a new vote of no confidence in her leadership. Mrs May is currently protected from a challenge until December following a failed coup last year.

The Tory group on Derbyshire County Council is so disillusioned that it has gone on ‘strike’ by refusing to take any part in next month’s European election campaign.

The Survation researchers were bombarded with vitriolic remarks by the hundreds of councillors they contacted for the MoS poll.

One said: ‘The Conservative Party is dead. It will take a strong leader to dredge it out of the mud’.

Another said: ‘For God’s sake get on with it [Brexit] – it is killing us on the doorstep.’

The turmoil engulfing the Government has made Jeremy Corbyn the most likely victor of the next General Election, according to a string of recent opinion polls, prompting Whitehall mandarins to ratchet up their preparations for a Labour Government.

As this newspaper reveals today, Mr Corbyn plans to ‘boycott’ Downing Street and remain living in his North London home if he becomes Prime Minister. Officials in charge of transition arrangements have made plans to allow that to happen. A source close to the Labour leader confirmed he is ‘seriously considering’ the idea – to the dismay of aides and police and security advisers.

Mr Farage only launched his Brexit Party earlier this month, but one poll last week put its support for the European Parliament elections at 27 per cent – well ahead of both Labour, on 22 per cent, and the Tories, who were stuck on 15 per cent. The new party is estimated to have already received more than £1.5 million in donations.

Our poll shows if Boris Johnson was Tory leader for the elections, the number of defectors to the Brexit Party would nearly halve.

Out of those Tory councillors who said they were certain to vote in the elections, 52 per cent said they would vote for their own party, while 40 per cent would vote for the Brexit Party.

If Mr Johnson was Prime Minister, the proportion voting Tory would rise to 65 per cent and 22 per cent would vote for Mr Farage.

Our poll shows if Boris Johnson was Tory leader for the elections, the number of defectors to the Brexit Party would nearly halve

Out of the 96 per cent of councillors who believe that the Brexit deadlock has damaged the Tories, 39 per cent believe it has done so ‘permanently’. A total of 76 per cent of the councillors want Mrs May to resign: of these, 43 per cent want her to go now while 33 per cent want her to go only after a deal has been reached.

A slew of rivals are preparing campaigns for the moment when Mrs May does step down as leader.

Mr Johnson tops the grassroots rankings on 23 per cent, ahead of Michael Gove on 14 per cent, Jeremy Hunt on 12 per cent, Sajid Javid on 11 per cent and Dominic Raab on 9 per cent.

But if Mr Farage is included as an option for Tory leader, he would beat everyone except Mr Johnson, who is on 19 per cent to Mr Farage’s 15 per cent.

The six-month Brexit extension granted to Mrs May has infuriated the Tory grassroots. Of the councillors questioned in our poll, 64 per cent voted Leave in 2016.

The language used by many of the councillors will shock Downing Street, with a number describing the current situation as ‘the end of the Conservative Party’.

Survation founder Damian Lyons Lowe said: ‘Conservative councillors are an influential and important indicator of the party’s grassroots support. Out of those who will cast a vote, almost half will not vote Conservative, underlining the deep divisions over Europe and the difficulty the party will have in getting out the vote for the forthcoming elections’.

l Survation questioned 781 Conservative councillors between April 17 and 19.

A double boost for Boris as reputation as the darling of Tory Party members is reinforced Boris Johnson’s strong performance in today’s poll for The Mail on Sunday is part of a double boost for the former Foreign Secretary as he waits for the leadership race to start. Mr Johnson reinforces his reputation as the darling of Tory Party members by coming top of the poll rankings, well ahead of his main rivals Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, Sajid Javid and Dominic Raab. The main impediment to his long-harboured dream of becoming Prime Minister has always been his lack of popularity among Tory MPs, who decide which two of their colleagues are entered into the ‘run-off’ in a ballot of party members. It has led supporters of both Mr Johnson and fellow Brexiteer Mr Raab to express the fear that they will be kept out of the final two by collusion between Mr Hunt and Mr Javid, both former Remainers who have tacked more towards Brexit as the contest has neared. Now Sir Graham Brady, the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, which determines the rules governing the leadership contest, is under increasing pressure to reform the system to allow four names to go to the membership. If agreed, it would make it almost impossible for Mr Johnson’s rivals to keep him off the members’ ballot. The comments made by many of the councillors in our survey suggest that he would then be on a clear path to No 10. One told us: ‘May has done nothing but vacillate. Boris has at least been consistent and would be more electable.’ Another said: ‘They are so intent on infighting – except for Boris.’ Advertisement

Brexit Party are raking in £200 a minute as the public make donations through a PayPal account and envelopes of cash By Miles Goslett for The Daily Mail Who funds The Brexit Party? That question is likely to be asked with increased intensity if, as bookmakers predict, Nigel Farage’s new organisation wins seats at the European elections on May 23. Party treasurer Phillip Basey agreed to open its books to me on Thursday. And having seen a raft of data, I can report that some-thing remarkable is going on. On Basey’s computer screen at his Westminster office was the party PayPal account. Every few seconds I saw another donation come in from a member of the public. Then another. And another. It was dizzying. ‘Most money comes via PayPal but we’re being sent envelopes of cash as well,’ he said. ‘We’ve also had scores of cheques. Our local branch of Lloyds Bank say they haven’t seen so many cheques for years.’ Basey revealed that on April 12, when the party formally launched, it received £440,000. That’s £305 a minute on average. When I went in, that average was down to £200 a minute. By my calculations, The Brexit Party has taken about £1.5 million in total. ‘Correct,’ said Basey. ‘Almost all of it will go on campaigning, in line with official limits. Our overheads are lower than the Tories and Labour.’ The mainstream parties rely on big donations. But Basey said every contribution they get is small. Most give £25. This allows someone to become a registered supporter and receive newsletters. Some pledge only £5. More rarely, £500 is offered. One benefactor has given £200,000, the biggest donation to date. ‘The official campaigning period has not even begun in earnest,’ Basey pointed out. ‘Everything will be reported to the Electoral Commission in due course.’ By 4pm on Thursday, the party had 57,000 registered supporters. Typically, 1,200 to 1,500 new supporters join each day. The Tories and Labour could only dream of statistics like these. Farage says he wants to start a political revolution. With this sort of public backing, he may just achieve it. Advertisement

A howl of rage from the shires: Heart and soul of the Tory party reveal their cries of exasperation and pain and demand to be listened to over Brexit crisis and Conservative leadership

By Glen Owen Political Editor for The Daily Mail

Traditionally, Conservative councillors across Britain have been united in their sense of duty, spending long evenings and weekends on doorsteps or stuffing endless envelopes for the sake of their party.

Now, as British politics plunges further into crisis, The Mail on Sunday has asked 800 of these loyal foot soldiers just what they think of the disastrous Brexit stalemate – and of Theresa May’s leadership – as many of them face a fight for their seats in local elections on May 2.

And their verdict is damning – as these quotes from them vividly illustrate...

‘The Conservative Party is dead! Will take a strong leader to dredge it out of the mud.’

‘I am embarrassed to be a member at the moment. This will be a case study of (predictable) incompetence which has made our country and party a laughing stock around the world.’

‘It will be difficult to resolve all the problems that exist and I think it could be the end of the Conservative Party in its current format.’

‘The Conservative Party needs a proper shake up. There are too many Old Etonians who just give the party its bad, upper-class reputation.’

‘Breaking the manifesto pledge has damaged the party beyond repair.’

‘It has caused me to seriously consider my party allegiance. We local councillors have been very badly served by the MPs at Westminster and I fear a drubbing in the local elections.’

‘I have always maintained that I would give the Conservative Government the full course of this Parliament to meet the key manifesto commitment to leave the EU. However, holding EU elections in May is such anathema to me that I will register an unambiguous protest vote for the Brexit Party.’

‘It is an absolute affront to democracy to attempt to thwart the majority vote to leave. You [Mrs May] have lost my trust for ever.’

‘I will be resigning from the party and joining Change UK, who put the country ahead of party politics.’

‘I will not vote Conservative nationally again. I have been a lifetime supporter and a Conservative councillor for 33 years.’

‘The Conservative Party has become a joke on the doorstep.’

‘For God’s sake GET ON WITH IT – it is killing us on the doorstep!’

‘My re-election as a Conservative councillor next month is at risk, in an otherwise safe Tory ward, purely and simply because central Government has shredded the Conservatives’ reputation for competence through its gross mishandling of Brexit. The Government’s performance over the past three years has been truly shambolic, an embarrassing fiasco. We have now reached a point where I no longer believe a word May says.’

‘For Christ’s sake get on with it. You bloody idiots are causing damage to business, to our party and local election chances. Locally Conservatives are working well and working hard while our MPs continue to s*** on us.’

‘If we don’t get out of the EU before the local elections you can write off 60 per cent of Conservative councillors. May is perceived as a traitor.’

‘I feel dismayed, disappointed and betrayed by our MPs from all parties, they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Theresa May and other Remainers have destroyed Conservatives from the inside. I have to explain at the door while canvassing that I feel just as let down, betrayed, disappointed as local people.’

‘As local councillors we do bins, not Brexit.’

‘Possibly the biggest shambles ever and likely to lose huge numbers of Conservative councillors their seats on May 2. A lot of Tory MPs are disloyal and selfish with total disregard for the will of the people and those of us at grassroots.’

‘We are suffering on the doorstep. If we do not get our act together we face wipeout in future elections.’

‘The Conservative Party no longer stands for anything – not even competence. [It] still has a strong, principled, patriotic membership – but its earnest wishes are being frustrated by a parliamentary party who don’t think much like the local members who fought to get them elected and who are, in large, careerist politicians more likely to default to the whip line than stand for anything. It’s a disgraceful situation. And if it goes uncorrected, the UK will get a Corbyn Government by default.’

‘I think we could be out of power for a decade with, God help us, J Corbyn able to wreck everything we’ve achieved.’

‘Theresa May is between a rock and a hard place. She is a person of great spirit and principles but she has been let down appallingly by weak-willed, easily led MPs who put their own interests before the needs of the nation. We are losing local party members because of their actions. They have done irreparable damage to the party and I fear we will not recover for decades to come.’

‘I am an admirer of Theresa May. However, her stance on Brexit has damaged her and the Conservatives. She needs to resign as soon as possible to ensure the party survives this disastrous debacle. How can I campaign for the UK Conservative Party when I now absolutely believe that Brexit needs to happen as soon as possible?’

‘To save her party she should stand down tomorrow. The longer she procrastinates, the more serious and long-term will be the damage to the Conservative Party.’

‘The Prime Minister has destroyed the Conservative Party. My worry is May has done so much damage to the reputation [of the party], and alienated so many core Tory voters, that any new leader will have a mountain to climb and too little time before the next Election to win over enough voters to stop Corbyn getting the keys to No 10. God help us if Corbyn gets into power.’

‘The Conservative Party is doomed until May goes.’

‘Just bloody get on with it and stop behaving like children (that is for all MPs, frankly).’

The Trotskyist, the ex-retail boss and the woman they call 'Boadicea': Who else is joining Annunziata Rees-Mogg in standing for Nigel Farage's new Brexit party?

By Daily Mail Reporter

Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the younger sister of Tory euroseptic Jacob and daughter of former Times editor Lord (William) Rees-Mogg, joined the Conservative Party at the age of five, and claimed she was out canvassing by the time she was eight.

She has worked as a stockbroker and journalist, and formerly edited the European Journal owned by Brexiteer Tory MP Bill Cash who recently demanded Theresa May resign for ‘abject surrender’ to the EU.

She twice failed to get elected as a Tory MP. David Cameron suggested she call herself ‘Nancy Mogg’ to sound less posh, but she refused.

June Mummery is a member of Fishing For Leave and the managing director of fish market auctioneers BFP Eastern in Lowestoft, Suffolk. Described as a ‘veteran Brexiteer’ who ‘has spent years fighting for the rights of British fisherman by finally taking back controls of our waters’, she has claimed some people call her Boadicea, after the British queen who led a doomed uprising against Roman rule almost 2,000 years ago. Mummery, 55, backed Brexit for the economic benefits she believes it will bring for the fishing industry, adding: ‘At the moment we have about 500 people making a living from fish in the town. If Brexit goes our way, I believe the workforce will double in the next ten to 15 years.’ Mrs Mummery’s daughter Scarlett, 23, who works on oil rigs, has used her model good looks to gain almost 25,000 followers on Instagram

Ben Habib is chief executive of First Property, a £730 million portfolio that has made the Anglo-Pakistani magnate millions from investments in office blocks in Central Europe. The company has boasted of exploiting ‘Brexit nervousness’ to maximise profits. Mr Habib, who lives in a £6 million mansion in Hampshire with wife Sarah and three children, was previously a lifelong Conservative voter who donated to the party

Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice is a multi-millionaire property developer in charge of a £500 million portfolio. He co-founded Leave.EU, which campaigned in the referendum, with Arron Banks. Tice, 54, then founded Leave Means Leave to fight for a hard Brexit. He regularly appears on TV and radio to make his case. He had been a loyal Tory backer, and was tipped to stand for them in next year’s election for London’s mayor

Dr Alka Sehgal Cuthbert, a hard-Left academic and a former member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, has formed an unlikely alliance with Nigel Farage. Dr Cuthbert, whose father immigrated from India in the 1960s, earned her PhD from Cambridge University. She says Brexit was a ‘working-class revolt’ that could lead to a surge in Trotskyist socialism. ‘I’m not doing this for Nigel Farage,’ she has said