Anxious wait for senior Tories as May prepares for Downing Street

THERESA MAY has underlined her determination to resist calls for a general election as she prepares to become prime minister tomorrow.
Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.
Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.

VIDEO: So what was David Cameron humming outside Downing Street?Her arrival in Downing Street tomorrow afternoon will leave a string of senior Conservatives waiting anxiously to discover their futures.

Justice Secretary Michael Gove, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers are among those thought to be at risk of losing their jobs.

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Mrs May has given away little over her plans but is expected to take the opportunity to give the cabinet a fresh look and reward her supporters.

Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling, former Defence Secretary Liam Fox, and former leadership rival Andrea Leadsom are thought to be in line for cabinet roles.

In a sign of the uncertainty facing senior figures, The Yorkshire Post understands a planned visit by George Osborne to the region on Thursday was postponed today amid speculation the Chancellor will be moved after six years at the Treasury.

Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis, a Eurosceptic former Europe Minister, has been tipped for a Government post and members of her campaign team, which included Keighley MP Kris Hopkins will also have hopes of ministerial jobs.

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The new prime minister is expected to confirm her chancellor foreign and home secretaries tomorrow but could wait to reveal her final frontbench line-up until Thursday.

Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.
Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.

Mrs May will be invited to Buckingham Palace tomorrow afternoon where the Queen will invite her to form a government.

In a carefully choreographed departure, David Cameron will bring his six years in Downing Street to an end with a final appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons before formally offering his resignation.

At his final cabinet meeting today, Mr Cameron told colleagues his time in office had been an “honour and pleasure” with ministers banging the cabinet table in tribute.

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Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson revealed the prime minister is intent on continuing in Parliament as a backbencher and already has a new office ready for life as the Conservative MP for Witney.

Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street, London, after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street, London, after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.
Home Secretary Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street, London, after the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister.

As Mrs May prepared to take office, she was already facing demands to change Government policy.

Sheffield MP Louise Haigh called on the new prime minister to urgently reverse civil service cuts in the city ahead of complex negotiations over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Ms Haigh said: “The budget cuts, reorganisations and closures pencilled in will mean the civil service will face up to massed ranks of the Brussels bureaucracy in prolonged negotiations with one hand tied behind their backs and while colleagues around them are being made redundant.”

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The Sheffield Heeley MP said the proposed closure of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills’s Sheffield office was “damaging our national interest.”

Justice Secretary Michael Gove arrives in Downing Stree for the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA WireJustice Secretary Michael Gove arrives in Downing Stree for the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Justice Secretary Michael Gove arrives in Downing Stree for the final Cabinet meeting with David Cameron as Prime Minister. Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

She added: “It would be an abdication of responsibility if the incoming Prime Minister did not immediately halt the reorganisation and job losses at BIS. They would do far better to turn their attention to the mammoth task ahead and let our excellent civil servants get the best deal for Britain.”