Prime Minister Theresa May could be moving out of No 10 Downing St soon, say critics. Photo / AP
Senior Conservatives were taking soundings yesterday over whether to replace Theresa May as British Prime Minister following her dismal General Election performance.
With the Tories fighting to run a minority government, senior MPs are concerned that May lacks the authority to negotiate a successful Brexit.
Party sources suggested Boris Johnson, Amber Rudd and David Davis were being sounded out as possible replacements. May insisted she wanted to "get on with the job" while failing to acknowledge the scale of the election humiliation.
The hung parliament left her eight seats short of an overall majority, but with the support of the Democratic Unionist Party's 10 MPs she can form a minority government.
Yesterday senior MPs from the DUP, led by Arlene Foster, arrived in London to negotiate the terms of a deal to prop up the Conservatives and keep them in power.
Senior Cabinet ministers are now demanding major changes to the way she works - and her reliance on a small "cabal" of close advisers - but there is a growing recognition that she is now a caretaker leader who will be replaced, possibly within weeks.
Discreet soundings are being taken over who could step in and replace May in Downing St, amid speculation she will soon be forced to admit she no longer has the mandate to govern.
The Tories are keen to avoid another general election or leadership contest unless entirely necessary.
There was growing anger at the way in which May handled the immediate aftermath of the election debacle - her speech outside No10 failed to acknowledge the sweeping change in the political landscape she now faces.
She was then forced to record another television interview in which she apologised to the MPs who lost their seats. Her performance was compared to Gordon Brown as he unsuccessfully sought to cling to power in 2010.
In her speech May said: "What the country needs more than ever is certainty, and having secured the largest number of votes and the greatest number of seats in the General Election, it is clear that only the Conservative & Unionist Party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the House of Commons."
She went on: "Now let's get to work."
The Daily Telegraph has learnt that Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, is planning to turn the Scottish Tories into a separate party because she feels the Conservatives need the freedom to go in a separate direction north of the border, where they gained 12 seats from the SNP.
She said a new "open Brexit" which prioritises economic considerations and free trade over immigration policy must now be agreed with other political parties.
Senior European leaders also put pressure on May to begin Brexit negotiations amid growing confidence in Brussels that they can use the crisis to back Britain into a corner.
The turmoil at the heart of the Government meant May was unable to carry out the Cabinet reshuffle she had planned.
Instead she tried to keep her potential challengers loyal by announcing she would not move Foreign Secretary Johnson, Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Rudd, Brexit Secretary Davis, or Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon.
George Osborne, the former Conservative chancellor, said May's authority had been "shredded".
Tory sources said there was no desire for another general election or even a leadership election, and that a "coronation" of an agreed candidate was the most likely scenario, possibly during the summer recess.
May's future as Prime Minister now depends entirely on her ability to deliver a Brexit deal that satisfies the disparate demands of her MPs. Daily Telegraph