Conservative MP Philip Davies has submitted a letter of no confidence in leader Theresa May to the chair of his party’s secretive backbench 1922 Committee.
“Politics is all about trust and once it is lost it is impossible to win back,” Mr Davies wrote.
“Many people have told me that as a result of this they have lost trust in the PM to properly and fully deliver the referendum result.
“It is with much sadness that I have to say that have also lost trust in her to deliver the referendum result too.”
While this is publicly embarrassing for the prime minister, already under-fire over Brexit following the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson over the Chequers proposals for Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, it could have even greater significance.
The 1922 Committee, currently chaired by Graham Brady MP, has the power to trigger a no confidence vote in the party leader in the event that it receives such letters from 15 per cent of MPs (meaning 48 at present).
However, to prevent disgruntled members conspiring against their boss in cloak-and-dagger fashion, the process is a blind one, with only the committee’s chairman knowing for sure how many letters have been submitted at any one time.
Even if the group were to receive 48 letters, the prime minister might still survive a no confidence vote and see off the looming threat of a leadership challenge. If she did, she would be rewarded with a year’s immunity from the process.
But if she were to lose, she would be obliged to step down and allow for the election of a replacement, once again plunging Westminster into chaos.
Under Mr Brady, a no confidence letter is held on file indefinitely once submitted, unless the author asks for it to be withdrawn. Previously, they would have had to renew their objection on an annual basis.
The 1922, which meets in Parliament’s oak-panelled Committee Room 14 at 5pm every Wednesday afternoon, is named after the historic Carlton Club meeting between Tory rebels Stanley Baldwin and Bonar Law on 19 October 1922, in which the men successfully plotted the withdrawal of the party from its coalition with David Lloyd George’s Liberals.
Initially a private dining club, “the men in grey suits” have enjoyed their reputation for organised dissent ever since.
They wield considerable power. The prime minister is expected to appear before its assembled members to give an account of themselves at least once a quarter and whenever a significant political event takes place.
All six members of its executive – Mr Brady, Cheryl Gillan, Charles Walker, Bob Blackman, Nigel Evans and Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – voted for Brexit.
The sextet – which gathers an hour before the midweek huddle – is unlikely to back Theresa May any further if they do not agree with her plans for Britain's exit from Europe and could become dangerous enemies should a no confidence vote be set in motion by a 48th letter landing on Mr Brady's desk.
