Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows roundup: Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Theresa Villiers

David Lidington – Conservative family ‘must come together’

The Cabinet Office Minister and Theresa May’s de facto deputy David Lidington has urged his colleagues to unite behind her after a week that has highlighted her precarious position. Fears have arisen among Conservative MPs that the party is facing annihilation in London and Birmingham in the local elections this spring, and the Chair of the 1922 Committee has signalled that he is dangerously close to the threshold of signatures for an automatic vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Lidington put up a spirited defence of the government’s record and urged his colleagues to ‘come together’:

AM: Your colleagues have been really really rude about Theresa May. Is your message that they should belt up?

DL: I think what I’d say to all my colleagues is the Conservative family – left, right and centre, because we’re a broad church – needs to come together in a spirit of mutual respect.

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