The post you are reporting:
A new twist on things in the Sunday Times.
Theresa May’s allies are plotting to keep her in Downing Street for at least another two years amid growing confidence that she will get her Brexit deal through parliament. Her supporters in cabinet have been buoyed by what they believe to be a substantial shift in political arithmetic in the Commons. This follows secret talks between May’s chief Brexit negotiator Ollie Robbins and his European counterparts last week. Plans being floated by a prominent cabinet minister would see May hang on to power until the autumn of 2021 when she would hand over the keys of No 10 to a new Conservative leader. The new prime minister would then have about nine months to prepare their team before the next general election, due in May 2022.
The party’s internal politics have become so febrile that only a week ago two of May’s most senior colleagues were preparing for a second referendum behind her back. Now her allies report a “significant improvement” in the number of MPs who are prepared to support her proposed withdrawal agreement. A senior cabinet minister confirmed that the plan had been discussed with leading party figures, possibly even including the prime minister herself. The loyalist said the move would allow May to carry out at least two more reshuffles before leaving Downing Street. The first, which is expected shortly after March next year, would allow her to “slay the old guard” and promote a new generation of cabinet ministers. According to those familiar with the proposal, Philip Hammond, Chris Grayling, Liam Fox and Greg Clark could all be axed to make way for fresh talent and a younger looking cabinet, with the majority then being under the age of 50.
May will seek to capitalise on momentum behind her Brexit deal by inviting all Tory MPs and their partners to a party at No 10 in the week beginning January 7, when parliament returns.
Speculation is swirling that the prime minister may be able to extract a meaningful concession from the EU on the Irish backstop, the insurance policy that aims to keep the border on the island of Ireland open after Brexit. Robbins was back in Brussels again last week despite the insistence of the European Commission that no talks were being held between the two sides. He is understood to have held talks with his European counterparts on Wednesday in the hope of reaching an agreement by the second week of January. This would enable some members of the arch-Eurosceptic European Research Group (ERG), including Jacob Rees-Mogg, its chairman, to back the deal. A cabinet minister described securing Rees-Mogg’s support for the deal as “work in progress”.
Other Brexiteers have come under pressure from their local Conservative Party associations. At least two rebels have been threatened with deselection by their constituency party chairmen after publicly supporting efforts to oust May. The relationship between the Tories and the DUP, which has been in the deep freeze, appears to be thawing. It follows a successful one-to-one meeting between May and Arlene Foster this month when the DUP leader “saw the whites of May’s eyes and realised she was serious about securing concessions on the backstop”, an ally said. It is understood that the changes required by the DUP are significant and the EU is not going to offer them straight away. It is now expected that the government could bring forward a second vote within two days if May’s deal is voted down when the meaningful vote is held in the week beginning January 14. “It’s now very much our expectation that we can win this vote, if not the first time then the second time around,” according to a senior government source. Damian Hinds, the education secretary, called on colleagues to spend the Christmas break reflecting on the alternatives to May’s deal as he rejected claims by Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, that there is a “plausible argument” for holding a second referendum if parliament fails to reach a consensus.