Shadow Chancellor Warns Of "Months And Months" Of Tory Leadership Rows

13 December 2018, 08:31 | Updated: 13 December 2018, 08:35

John McDonnell says Theresa May's vow not to stand in the next General Election means we'll now have "months and months" of a Conservative leadership election.

The Shadow Chancellor said Labour are now considering their options after the Prime Minister won a vote of no confidence from her own MPs last night.

One possibility is a vote of no confidence in the government, but Mr McDonnell said they would only do that if they felt it was right for the country.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari, he said: "We now know a third of her party in parliament are solidly opposed to her.

"The commitment she gave not to run into the next General Election as the leader of the party means basically we're going to have months after months of what would effectively be a leadership election within the Tory party.

"In terms of our own position, we'll see what happens over the weekend. Now she's gone off to the summit, I expect we'll have a statement in parliament on Monday about the outcome of those summit negotiations and we'll judge where we go from there."

Nick suggested that now May is safe from her own MPs, it would be down to Jeremy Corbyn to unseat her, but Mr McDonnell disagreed.

He said: "I don't think she is safe with her own party. I know the 12-month rule is there, but you know the Conservatives send the men and ladies in grey suits to get rid of their Prime Ministers. Anything could happen.

"The problem she's got is that she's got 117 MPs voting against her, but also it's not just the quantity but the quality. It's quite bitter in the Conservative Party.

"It hasn't resolved matters. Her own position is still pretty tenuous."