General Election: Lichfield MP says Theresa May 'unlikely' to be in power come next election as he slams the Tory campaign as 'one of the worst in living memory'
A leading Tory MP has said it is 'unlikely' Theresa May will be leading the party when the country next goes to polls.
Michael Fabricant, the MP for Lichfield, also slammed his party's election campaign as 'one of the worst in living memory' and described the Conservative manifesto as 'even more depressing than the book of revelations'.
He said: "I suspect it is unlikely that she will be leading us into the next general election."
However he has not called for Mrs May's head, instead insisting there needs to be a period of stability as 'the last thing the nation wants now is another general election'.
He told the Express & Star: "Theresa May must be feeling rotten and I have huge sympathy with her. I suspect it is unlikely that she will be leading us into the next general election but the last thing that the nation wants now is another general election.
"Three national elections, including the referendum, in as many years is about as de-stabilising as Italy usually is. I hope there will be a period of stability for a year or longer as we build our position.
"We should take some tiny comfort in the fact that despite our election campaign being one of the worst in living memory and our manifesto being even more depressing than then the book of revelations, Labour still did not do any better than they did in 2010. So questions are already starting within the Labour Party about their own leadership."
On the topic of the informal coalition with the DUP, a party that has consistently opposed gay marriage and has a history of controversial comments about homosexuality, Mr Fabricant said: "I do not share the DUP's illiberal views on LGBT rights and abortion. I have always been a social liberal with these matters since the day I was first elected.
"However we have worked closely with the DUP since 2010 and this did not stop a Cameron government introducing gay marriage. Furthermore we are not discussing a coalition with the DUP so I am guessing it will be an agreement with them to support us. Consequently they will have no influence on gay and similar rights which, in Northern Ireland, are controlled by Stormont and not by Westminster."
