Before Theresa May’s crunch Brexit cabinet meeting on Wednesday, a lobby hack asked the prime minister’s spokesman: does the cabinet have full confidence in the prime minister? Usually it’s the other way round – the prime minister is asked whether she has full confidence in an unruly or scatty minister. However, as May’s premiership enters its most difficult days yet, the power to grant or take away confidence lies firmly with her ministers and MPs. And it is becoming increasingly clear that, despite May’s cabinet having signed off her deal, confidence is fading fast.
Dominic Raab’s resignation this morning as Brexit secretary is a near-fatal blow to May’s Brexit plan – and to her premiership. Prior to the meeting, No 10 aides privately conceded that, of all the ministers that could resign, it was Raab that they could not afford to lose. Raab helped May keep the show on the road in the aftermath of the Chequers backlash, in which the key Brexiteers David Davis and Boris Johnson quit. A pragmatic Brexiteer, Raab was a crucial hire for No 10, as the choice showed that May’s plan still had appeal to leave voters.
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