Theresa May should throw herself on Tory MPs’ mercy

When Theresa May appears in front of the 1922 Committee this evening, her first words should be ‘I am sorry’. She should apologise to those who lost their seats, to the party for the damage she has done to it and to the country for the chaos that she has plunged it into with this unnecessary election. Once she has done with those mea culpas, she should say sorry for the way she ran Number 10. She should make clear that this will now change, that there will be a return to Cabinet government and that she will see the 1922 executive every fortnight; you can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times she has seen the ’22 executive since becoming PM.

The next thing May should do is acknowledge that she can’t lead the Tories into another general election. Having shown Tory MPs that she is realistic about the situation and isn’t in any form of denial, she can then set out how she sees the way forward.

There is a case to be made for Theresa May staying to bed down this minority government before she departs the stage.