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Theresa May has been accused of using the Government machine to strong arm Conservative MPs into voting for to become Prime Minister.

The Home Secretary will set out her case to replace David Cameron as Prime Minister and Tory leader in a major speech on Thursday morning.

She is expected to say that she is the leader for “difficult times” as Britain prepares to leave the European Union when she unveils her leadership challenge tomorrow.

An ally of Mrs May said: "Her pitch will be about stability and competence. These are difficult times, we need someone who can cope with difficult times. She will make a positive push, it will range beyond home affairs and talk about her values.

"She will highlight the need for opportunity and life chances. The Conservative Party needs to deliver for the whole of society, not just the prosperous."


It comes as a new poll of more than 1,300 readers of the Conservativehome website put Mrs May narrowly ahead of her arch rival Boris Johnson by 29 per cent to 28 per cent.

The news came as Tory MPs complained about an apparently coordinated drive by Government whips to get Mrs May installed as party leader.

One Conservative MP said he had been collared by his whip earlier this week while he was voting to ask if he was voting for Mrs May.

He said: “In breach of Conservative party rules they are ringing around the new intake saying ‘you must vote for this candidate’.

“It is clear that the whole of the establishment is backing Theresa May – she is the continuity Cameron cronies candidate.”

Concerns about an officially sanctioned “stop Boris” plot have been raised because Gavin Williamson, Mr Cameron’s Parliamentary Private Seceretary, has been actively campaigning for Mrs May.

Nadhim Zahawi MP, who is backing Mr Johnson, told The Daily Telegraph: “I have no problem with whips campaigning for any candidate but it would be completely wrong and an abuse of process to do that while they are holding the position of whips.”


Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tories, said he had submitted a formal complaint to Mark Harper, the chief whip, about their activity.

He said: “I have received complaints about whips apparently involved in campaigning and I have raised the matter with the chip whip.”

Westminster sources said that five Government whips – Mel Stride, Simon Kirby, Guy Opperman, Gavin Barwell and Julian Smith – had attended a meeting of Remain MPs on Monday.

Mr Harper could be challenged at bout the row at a meeting of the party’s MPs this evening to rubber stamp the leadership rules.

The chief whip will attend the mass meeting of MPs to sign off the party’s leadership rules, which were approved with one change by the party’s board.

According to the Conservativehome poll, it is “neck and neck” between Mrs May and Mr Johnson to succeed Mr Cameron.


Boris Johnson Credit: Andrew Parsons / i-Images/Andrew Parsons / i-Images
Paul Goodman, the website’s editor, said that out of 1,315 votes cast, Mrs May led Mr Johnson “by a mere 10 votes” putting “May the Remainer a sliver ahead of Boris the Leaver”.

MPs, party officials and members agreed at the meeting on Tuesday to extend voting from September 2 to September 9 to allow more time for hustings involving party members.

The early ending of voting is thought to make it easier for the next Tory leader to call an election for November to win a democratic mandate to govern.

However it is understood that both Mrs May and Mr Johnson are poised to rule out an election in November if they become Prime Minister.

One MP close to Mr Johnson said: “There is no need for an election because he is so well known.”

There was a blow for Mrs May’s hopes when more than 100 MPs attended a meeting of anti-EU supporters in the Houses of Parliament on Monday night.

The meeting was chaired by Steve Baker, the Eurosceptic MP who set up the Conservatives for Britain group.

To cheers, he is understood to have told the meeting: “We have not come so far, only to elect a Leader who did not campaign to leave the EU.”

Mrs May kept a low profile during the campaign, and is likely to pitch herself as a unifying force between the anti- and pro-EU wings of the party.

She made only a handful of interventions notably a speech in which she declared herself a reluctant support of the Remain campaign.

Sir Alan Duncan, the respected former Tory minister who flirted with the Vote Leave campaign before coming out for Remain, has said it was wrong to assume the new leader had to be a supporter of Brexit.

He said: “If you just look through the lens of this referendum that is behind us, that will actually narrow the way in which we look at ourselves.

“What we need is unity, stability, credibility and competence. Someone has got to be good on domestic and foreign policy and be able to stand on the domestic stage with dignity and effectiveness.”

Separately, the Conservative party leadership election has been extended by a week to avoid clashing with the G20 meeting of world leaders September.

The extension will also give more time to Tory party activists to grill the candidates at hustings in the race to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister.

The Conservative party board agreed at a meeting on Tuesday to extend the date when the winner is announced from September 2 to September 9.

The meeting also decided to cap the amount that each of the candidates can spend on their campaign at £135,000 each.

Sources said the decision to move the announcement from September 2 was to avoid requiring the new Prime Minister to attend immediately in Hangzhou, China two days later on September 4.

This will mean that Mr Cameron will represent the UK at the G20 in what will be one of his final appearances as British Prime Minister.

Nominations are due to open at 6pm today, [weds] after the leadership rules are signed off at a mass meeting of Tory MPs at 5pm, and then close at midday tomorrow. [thurs]

Voting will then take place on alternate Tuesday and Thursdays for the next few weeks to whittle down the list of candidates to just two, whose names will go forward to the Conservative party’s members.

The news came as former defence secretary Liam Fox could emerge as kingmaker in the Conservative leadership campaign after it emerged that more than 30 Tory MPs could support his campaign.

Dr Fox is understood to be seriously considering running for the leadership, a decade after he stood against David Cameron.

Nominations for the leadership are due to open on Wednesday and close at midday on Thursday.

Voting takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays over the next few weeks to whittle down the number of candidates to just two who will go forward to the party membership.

Westminster sources said that Dr Fox could receive as the backing of 30 right wing MPs.

This could give him a key role in the contest if he decides to back either of the favourites Boris Johnson or Theresa May at a later date.

One Conservative MP said that if Dr Fox became Prime Minister his Scottish roots could help him to hold the United Kingdom together and top Scotland breaking away from England and Wales.

Dr Fox, 55, was brought up in a council house in east Kilbride, a complete contrast to the more privilege upbringing of Mr Cameron, who was educated at Eton College.


The MP told The Daily Telegraph that that while candidates like Boris Johnson were too “metropolitan”, he said: “Liam is Scottish. He can hold the union together.”

The news came as Jeremy Hunt, another candidate for the Tory leadership, warned that Brexit talks might not start for four years if he became Prime Minister.

The health secretary said that he might not trigger the formal two year notice period for Britain to leave the European until the likely next general election in 2020.

Jeremy Hunt told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The way we get there is not rushing to trigger article 50, the formal mechanism that starts the process of leaving the EU.

“We do need to trigger it during the course of this parliament but I don’t think we need to rush. We need to get the right deal.”

Mr Hunt said ideally he would like to write the terms of the UK’s settlement into the Tory manifesto ahead of the 2020 general election.

He said: “My preferred route would be for it to be in the Conservative manifesto for the 2020 general election.”

Mr Hunt used his appearance on the morning breakfast programme to confirm that he is seriously considering standing for party leader.

At least one Government minister has told The Telegraph he will back Mr Hunt for the leadership.

A source close to Mr Hunt said he will make a decision based on the number of MPs who want to back him and on “conversations with his family”.