'It's a disaster': Tories in turmoil over Theresa May's leadership
Some Conservative MPs are expressing serious concerns over the Prime Minister鈥檚 leadership despite public shows of support.
Thursday 5 October 2017 23:14, UK
Theresa May has been branded a "dead woman walking" as Tory MPs openly speculate on leadership plots - despite a large number publicly backing the Prime Minister.
Speculation has swirled over Mrs May's position following her .
Her keynote address to Conservative delegates in Manchester was interrupted by a prankster brandishing a mock P45 notice, as well as her repeated coughing fits.
Allies of Mrs May warned Tory MPs against using her podium performance to try and oust her from 10 Downing Street.
But one Conservative MP has told Sky's Political Correspondent Tamara Cohen there is a "50% chance" the Prime Minister will resign by Friday.
They added: "It's a disaster. The question is - is it a worse disaster if she goes?"
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Ex-Conservative Cabinet minister David Mellor claimed Mrs May is "a dead woman walking", with her address "not the speech of someone who really has much of a future as leader of the Conservative Party".
He told Sky News: "The good thing for Theresa May was we couldn't hear most of her speech because most people would have realised the woman has no real ideas worthy of the position she holds."
But, despite the Prime Minister's speech woes, which also saw lettering on a slogan behind her fall down during her address, Mrs May's problems appeared to make little impact on the public's opinion of her.
In a Sky Data poll conducted on Thursday, 30% of respondents believed it would be good for the Conservative Party if Mrs May is still their party leader at the next General Election - up two points from the end of August.
Some 43% thought it would be bad for the Tories if Mrs May remained at the helm, a fall of two points, while 15% said it would be neither good or bad if she remained in charge.
Opinion was almost evenly split on the Prime Minister's conference speech, with 39% describing it as very good or fairly good, and 40% thinking it was very bad or fairly bad.
Canvassing of Tory MPs by Sky News on Thursday revealed a large amount of support for the Prime Minister, while many, including leading Cabinet ministers, also offered public statements of encouragement.
However, one MP did tell Sky News: "The writing's on the wall for Theresa May, I can't see her going on.
"There are many reasons for her to stay but more are stacking up in the other corner.
"The trajectory is getting worse for her."
Mark Pritchard, appointed a UK trade envoy by Mrs May earlier this year, warned his Conservative colleagues that attempts to send a delegation of 30 MPs to Downing Street in a bid force out the Prime Minister were "cowardly" and "will fail".
He added they would need 48 MPs to write to the party's backbench 1922 committee if they wanted to force a vote of no confidence.
There was a sharp fall in sterling on Thursday, with the pound hitting a four-week low against the dollar amid the fresh doubts over Mrs May's future.
However, investors also pointed to a strengthening dollar and a slew of bad news for the UK economy as reasons for the currency slump.
:: Sky Data interviewed a nationally representative sample of 1,008 Sky customer via SMS on 5 October 2017. Data are weighted to the profile of the population.
For full Sky Data tables, please click .