THERESA MAY'S two closest aides have quit in the wake of the disastrous General Election campaign that resulted in the Tories losing their majority.
May's joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill resigned in a move that may be enough to help the Prime Minister keep her own job.
The role of Timothy and Hill as May's gatekeepers and policy advisers had been severely criticised by disgruntled Tories during and after the election result.
In an indication of the opposition to Timothy and Hill, former minister Anna Soubry had called for them to be sacked while May's former communications chief Katie Perrior, who left Downing Street when the election was called, hit out at their "rude, abusive, childish behaviour".
She said: "Mrs May condoned their behaviour and turned a blind eye or didn't understand how destructive they both were." She also accused Hill, who was brought up in Greenock and worked for two Scottish newspapers, of coming out with "batsh*t crazy" ideas.
Timothy acknowledged that one of his regrets was the way May's social care policy – dubbed the "dementia tax" by critics – had been handled.
The Prime Minister was forced to perform an unprecedented U-turn within days of the publication of the Tory manifesto by announcing that there would be a cap on social care costs, something that was absent in the original policy document.
In a resignation message on the ConservativeHome website Timothy said: "I take responsibility for my part in this election campaign, which was the oversight of our policy programme. In particular, I regret the decision not to include in the manifesto a ceiling as well as a floor in our proposal to help meet the increasing cost of social care.
"But I would like to make clear that the bizarre media reports about my own role in the policy's inclusion are wrong: it had been the subject of many months of work within Whitehall, and it was not my personal pet project.
"I chose not to rebut these reports as they were published, as to have done so would have been a distraction for the campaign. But I take responsibility for the content of the whole manifesto, which I continue to believe is an honest and strong programme for government."
May was expected to make further appointments to her Cabinet on Saturday, but the damage to her standing makes it less likely she will risk alienating colleagues by carrying out an extensive reshuffle.
After speculation the Prime Minister would use a solid win in the election to move Philip Hammond from the Treasury, he and other potential successors as Tory leader – Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd – remained in place.
With Brexit Secretary David Davis and Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon also staying put, there were suggestions changes could just centre on replacing the eight Ministers who lost their seats as the Tory Commons tally fell to 318.
Amid reports that senior Tories were sounding out potential replacements for May, prominent Conservative MP Heidi Allen said the Prime Minister had six months at most left in Downing Street.
But Transport Secretary Chris Grayling sprang to May's defence, insisting she needed to stay in office for the national interest, and former leader William Hague said the situation did not warrant a leadership contest.
Grayling said: "Not only must she not resign, she has to not resign in the interest of the country because we need to move forward, we have got to go into the Brexit negotiations."
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