Theresa May’s joint chiefs of staff have both resigned, but our readers remain unconvinced that the prime minister will survive long in the job.
A succession of Conservative MPs have been calling for the head of one or both of May’s advisers after a disastrous general election campaign and a controversial manifesto launch.
But with Brexit negotiations due to start in a matter of days, and the impending prospect of the DUP propping up a Tory minority government, commenters felt that May’s time in Downing Street is numbered.
Below is a selection of their views.
May is too weakened to negotiate a deal
It’s just a matter of time
She won't be able to survive. It is just a matter of time. As soon as any 'Brexit' talks become difficult she will have nowhere to go.
The best move now is to postpone 'Brexit'
We’ve only got 9 days til Brexit negotiations
The sacking of her closest aides, Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy is a price that Theresa May thinks is well worth paying! If Theresa May was so easily influenced by a couple of advisors into making such a mess up, then how is she going to stand up to 27 hardened EU negotiators in 9 days time?
The Tories should have ended austerity
For me, the single most shocking thing about Nick Timothy's resignation is his letter where he acknowledges all the real problems in this country and tries to claim Theresa May is wanting to fix these problems - such as austerity. She only had a year to start this. I have heard nothing from the Government in the past year aside from BREXIT MEANS BREXIT and a few words after Terror attacks. People need a government that governs and not runs away from their own public.
May’s career is in tatters
I don't understand Theresa May. Whom is she doing this for? She is basically doing the job the Brexiters like Boris Johnson don't want to be associated with: the economic and social disaster of a right-wing Brexit or the disappointment (for the right-wingers) of a reasonable Brexit.
May's career is in tatters. The best she could have hoped for was a decent showing in the general election with an increased majority. She failed miserably. And even if she had achieved her goal of a large majority for herself and "her team", she would have had huge problems defending her position after the Brexit deal when the knives would have been out.
She should resign and let the plotters take over and fail and be defeated in the next election that would be inevitable within the next six months because of the utter uselessness of the Tory right wingers. If she did that, she could have done her country (and herself) a favour after all.
No longer so strong and stable
May's USP was the "safe pair of hands" cards. Her accession last year was born out of desire for dull stability after the dramatics of Brexit. Her act of calling this election destroyed that trump card as she showed herself willing to start Brexit and then risk chaos by calling an election.
The Tories need time to regroup
I know the result is a surprise and we're in a far from ideal situation but the chomping hate and mass hysteria I'm seeing all over isn't going to help anything at a time when we're about to start the most difficult negotiations we've ever had to do. Give everyone a bit of time to reflect, rethink and reorganise and come back with a sensible plan for the next few months. It's not a good time for rash decision making that's likely to lead to more mistakes. And that goes for everyone as I'm not taking sides here.
May can’t survive
Its over.
Not sustainable. The Daily Mail seems to think that May had to be persuaded from resigning on the spot on Friday. There is no way that she can withstand the absolute mother of all storms that is going to sweep this country on Monday- it will destroy her and quite a few others too. God knows whose idea the DUP was but they live in cuckoo land, that's for sure.
The Tories will descend into civil war
Labour need to sit tight, continue to get their possitive message across; in a few months the Tories will be at war and will be ripe for the taking. As for May's campaign, I'm not sure it made that much difference, once Corbyn was able to be heard, people liked it, they liked his positivity. All May has offered since she became PM was more of the same: austerity and tax cuts for the rich, people are fed up and are starting to realise that cuts to public services and inflation are really affecting them.
So presumably the Tories and the DUP are working on a coalition agreement. But the negotiations are being carried out by a PM, May, who is quite clearly on her way out. Does she intend for her successor to be bound by the Tory-DUP agreement? Or will the successor try to re-negotiate the agreement? Or will there be yet another election when May's successor comes in?
In summary I don't really understand how May at this juncture could negotiate anything with anyone.