Theresa May admits she must do better amid Tory plotting, but insists 'I'm no quitter'

Theresa May has accepted she needs to do more to talk to voters about her Government’s achievements amid mounting Tory concern that she is underperforming as Prime Minister.

But the Conservative leader argued that she is “not a quitter” in the face of recent calls to name a date for her departure and claims that she lacks the ideas to win the next election.

Disquiet among Tory MPs is threatening to overshadow Ms May’s trade mission in China, on which she aims to promote UK exports accompanied with her biggest ever business delegation.

Speaking to reporters on her RAF jet at 30,000 feet, she said: “Are you asking me, is there more for us to do talk to people more generally about what we are achieving and what we are doing?...yes, there’s always more for us to be able to do to talk to people about what we’re achieving.”

Ms May argued that she had heeded her MPs’ calls for new policy – citing a move to cut stamp duty for first-time buyers, merging social and healthcare policy and securing a reduction in the educational attainment gap between higher and lower income children.

She went on: “First and foremost, I’m serving my country, my party. I’ve said to you before, I’m not a quitter and there’s a long-term job to be done.

“And that job is about getting the best Brexit deal, about ensuring that we take back control of our money, our laws, our borders, that we can sign trade deals around the rest of the world. But it’s also about our domestic agenda.”

She added: “Yes, we need to ensure that we do speak about the achievements that we’ve seen.”

Three Conservative MPs, including two former ministers, wrote an article on Tuesday demanding new and bold action on housing, education and healthcare.

One of them, Nick Boles, had also recently criticised Ms May directly on social media claiming her Government had disappointed on key decisions and even disparagingly comparing the Prime Minister to a “tortoise”.

Asked about the attack, Ms May said: “I have never tried to compare myself to any animal, or bird or car or whatever sort of comparisons that sometimes people use.

“As I have said, there is a focus for the Government – yes we want to get Brexit right, and we are working on that – but we also, alongside that, are looking at the key issues that matter to people on a day to day basis.”

Former Tory party chairman Grant Shapps recently called for Ms May to name a date for her departure and claimed more letters are being sent to the all-powerful Conservative backbench 1922 Committee demanding a vote of no confidence in Ms May, with 48 needed to bring the issue to a head.

Ms May refused to engage with a question over whether she would contest a vote if enough letters were received, and said rules of the Conservatives relating to leadership issues are a matter for the party.

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer recently said that the “window” is closing for the Government to get its message across before the next election, which could see Jeremy Corbyn end up in Downing Street.

Asked whether Tory infighting risks handing the keys of Number 10 to the Labour leader, Ms May said: “We are in Government. The next general election is not until 2022.

“What we’re doing now is doing the job that the British people asked the Government to do which is to deliver on Brexit. They want us to do that.”