Leading Leave campaigners, Cabinet ministers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have both backed Theresa May to stay on as Prime Minister and deliver Brexit. The ministers, in a recent interview at the BBC said that Mrs May has support across the Conservative Party, and that there is no public appetite for further political upheaval.
Asked if he expects Mrs May to stay in post, Foreign Secretary Mr Johnson told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘My strong feeling is that the last thing the electorate wants is more elections or more political shenanigans of one kind or another. There’s a huge task to get on with with Brexit. We’ve got to do it well, we can do it in a positive way, I think we can build something brilliant out of this.’
Mr Gove, who has recently returned to the Cabinet as Environment Secretary, said in the programme that he is confident Mrs May will be the Prime Minister to deliver Brexit.
‘I think that there’s support across the Conservative Party for Theresa, and also support for the position that she outlined before, during and after the election,’ he said.
Mr Johnson said Brexit could pave the way for Britain to become ‘the agent and the agitator for increased world trade’, which he said has stagnated in recent years.
Mr Gove, meanwhile, said Brexit could revive the UK’s fishing industry, offer better protection for farmers and higher animal welfare standards, adding: ‘I think we can have cheaper and higher quality food.’
The leaders supported Chancellor Philip Hammond’s comments on Sunday that leaving the EU without a new trade deal in place would be ‘very, very bad’ for the country. Mr Johnson said that he was confident that there was every realistic prospect that their friends in EU will want to do this deal.
The results from new survey, a Survation poll for ITV’s Good Morning Britain puts Labour ahead of Conservatives - but May has been backed to deliver Brexit despite new polls putting Labour ahead of Conservatives
Backed by 52 per cent votes, Theresa May remains the leader most trusted to secure a good Brexit deal, despite falling three points behind Labour in a new opinion poll.
The poll also said 48 per cent of people believed Mrs May should remain Prime Minister while 45 per cent said they wanted her to resign. Six out of ten of those polled said they thought a coalition of all political parties would be best to negotiate a good deal for Britain leaving the EU and just over a third said the current Conservative-led government would be best to negotiate a good Brexit deal.
