Brexit: Tories play down early poll but are preparing for one

Both Tories and Labour are moving to an election footing in case Theresa May calls a sudden poll.

Theresa May in parliament.

The Conservatives are making “sensible and pragmatic” contingency plans in case Theresa May is forced to call a sudden general election, the party’s deputy chairman admitted yesterday.

However, James Cleverly played down the chances of an early poll to resolve the political deadlock over Brexit. “I don’t think an election would solve anything,” he told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme on Sky News. “Time is of the essence. We have got Brexit to deliver. We don’t want any more unnecessary delay.”

It came as Sir John Major, the former Tory prime minister, floated the idea of a government of national unity in the event that a poll in the autumn failed to produce a clear majority for one party.

Mr Cleverly acknowledged some work was under way. “We have got a minority government in a turbulent time so, just in terms of sensible pragmatic planning, but we are not seeking or preparing in that sort of sense that I think you mean, for a general election. What the government, what the party, what MPs are focused on for the most part and should be focused on, is delivering Brexit because without that all the other conversations are displacement activity, belly-button gazing.”

Sir John, an opponent of Brexit, told the Andrew Marr Show on BBC One that there should not be an immediate general election but that one later in the year might require a rethinking of the traditional political structures. He said: “We are going to need a government that has a clear majority or we’re going to have the sort of constitutional chaos we have at the moment stretching for a very long time ahead.

Now, there are only two ways to get such a government: one is a general election that produces a clear working majority for one of the parties. [It’s] not impossible, but [it is] very unlikely.

“The other alternative is to have some form of unity or national government. I don’t think that is imminent.”

He added: “If we have a general election in the autumn, which I think is possible . . . and we don’t get a government with a clear majority, then I think it would be in the national interest to have a cross-party government so we can take decisions without the chaos we’re seeing in parliament at the moment when every alternative is rejected.”

David Gauke, the justice secretary, told the same programme that he did not believe calling a general election would resolve the deadlock in Parliament over Brexit. “I don’t see how a general election solves this issue. The fundamentals remain the same,” he said.

He also played down the idea of a government of national unity, saying: “I don’t in all honesty think that it is practical. I am really not sure it is workable.”

Alistair Burt, a former Conservative minister, also insisted there was no need for an election. “The prime minister has already said she’s expecting to leave after we get the first stage of Brexit through, I don’t anticipate a general election before that is done - so probably the answer would be no.”

Jeremy Corbyn would be poised on the threshold of Downing Street if Mrs May called a general election, a Mail on Sunday poll found. In the poll Labour jumped to 41 per cent, five points clear of the Tories on 36 per cent. “If repeated at an election, Labour would be on course to win 307 seats, while the Conservatives would claim just 264,” the paper estimated.

Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader, said yesterday that Labour was getting ready for an election. “We are gearing up for an election”, he told the BBC as he set out plans for a new national banking system based on post offices. “[Jeremy Corbyn’s] putting us on election footing. I’m going to be talking to our NEC members later today because obviously we need to reselect our sitting MPs ready for a general election. He also said he thought a People’s Vote would be in the Labour manifesto, but emphasised he did not write it and its contents had not been decided.

The Times