Britain is slated to hold elections to local councils next month, where polls say the Tories are set for significant losses. A reshuffle of cabinet ministers could have solved the problem of decreasing Conservative popularity – or, at least until quite recently.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has been forced to give up on the idea of a major government reshuffle next month because of the Brexit delay, The Sun reports.
“A reshuffle is going to be impossible now. Things are just too precarious”, a senior government official told the tabloid, adding: “The last thing we need is any more enemies on the backbenches”.
It is alleged that May has been advised to sack some ageing cabinet members and inject fresher flood from the ranks of Tory members. The move could bolster her position ahead of the 2 May local elections, where the Conservative Party is widely expected to suffer a loss in seats due to growing anger over the Brexit chaos.
A separate report suggests that influential Tory MPs sitting on the 1922 Committee are set to tell May to step down by the end of June, which she had earlier claimed to be the latest possible date for Brexit.
May already survived a vote of no confidence in January by a close margin, but MPs are reportedly seeking to change the leadership rules, which in their current form grant her immunity from a second vote.
This comes more than a week after the European Union agreed to delay Britain’s departure for a second time until the end of October, as Theresa May is struggling to get her party’s MPs to support her Brexit deal.
The UK was scheduled to leave the EU on March 29; however, May was granted an extension until 12 April and then 31 October, as British lawmakers failed to support the deal she had earlier negotiated with Brussels.