(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Theresa May has suggested she is prepared to demote Boris Johnson in a signal of strength after Downing Street successfully deflected an attempted coup by a former Conservative chair.
The prime minster said she would not 'hide from the challenge when asked about the foreign secretary, who has infuriated colleagues by interventions on Brexit that triggered questions of leadership.
Her comments, after a nightmare conference speech that she admitted was 'uncomfortable, were backed up by the Conservative leader in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, who warned: 'People serve in Cabinet entirely at the pleasure of the prime minister.
Davidson stressed that Johnson had made a public show of loyalty, but urged May to ensure that the foreign secretary was true to his word.
'He has come out this week to say he is fully behind every dot, comma, and word of the Florence speech, Davidson told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show. 'I want to see the prime minister hold him to that.
Davidson described Johnson as a 'big intellect and big figure in the party, adding that the prime minister had her support if she believed he was the best person to be foreign secretary.
But in a warning that appeared to be aimed both at Cabinet members and Grant Shapps whose attempted coup fizzled out after a backlash from colleagues Davidson claimed colleagues had forgotten that they were lucky to be serving the country. 'It is not and should never be about private ambition.
She added that 'lying in wait (is Jeremy Corbyn's) neo-Marxist government ready to take over.
In further signs of angst within the party between the most ardent Brexit supporters and those who campaigned for remain, the Tory MP Nadine Dorries told ITV's Peston on Sunday she believed it was wrong to focus on Johnson.
She said May should sack her Chancellor, Philip Hammond, arguing that any attempt to put the brakes on Brexit would not be forgiven by voters.
Davidson disagreed, telling Robert Peston that May should 'absolutely not remove her chancellor, and arguing that it was his job to set out how different Brexit outcomes would affect the British economy.
Davidson refused to say whether she would want to run to become a Tory MP in 2022, opening the door to the possibility of becoming a future leader. Asked about the issue, she said: 'I've got a job at the moment. I'm not looking beyond 2021. Davidson argued that she was focused on making the party in Scotland a credible alternative government, insisting: 'This is my job right now.
Meanwhile, the former Tory prime minister John Major launched a blistering attack on the 'self-absorbed and, frankly, disloyal behaviour within his party over recent weeks.
He strongly criticised those who had tried to manoeuvre against May. 'Their conduct has undermined their own party, their own prime minister, and their own government. It is profoundly unbecoming and it must stop, he wrote in the Mail on Sunday, claiming the public were desperate for the government to speak for them.
'The British people are sick and tired of the navel-gazing that has dominated the news headlines, all of which has been deeply unedifying to behold.
May's comments, in an interview with the Sunday Times, are part of an effort to get on to the front foot as MPs return to parliament this week after a damaging conference season.
After days of Johnson dominating the headlines, the prime minister finished the week with a speech that was overshadowed by a prankster handing her a P45, an incessant cough and a problem with the staging.
Asked if she could move the foreign secretary in an expected reshuffle, after claims that he was unsackable, she said: 'It has never been my style to hide from a challenge and I'm not going to start now.
'I'm the PM, and part of my job is to make sure I always have the best people in my Cabinet, to make the most of the wealth of talent available to me in the party.
The prime minister denied that she had cried after the speech and hit out at some of the media portrayals of her. 'One minute journalists are accusing me of being an ice maiden or a robot, then they claim I'm a weeping woman in dire need of a good night's sleep, she told the newspaper. 'The truth is, my feelings can be hurt, like everyone else, but I am pretty resilient.
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