Theresa May’s co-chiefs of staff quit after election

UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s two chiefs of staff have resigned in the wake of the election that resulted in the Conservative Party losing its majority in Parliament.

Nick Timothy announced his resignation in a letter posted on the ConservativeHome website, and Fiona Hill has also stepped down.

The BBC reported that May had been warned that she would have faced a leadership challenge on Monday unless she sacked the pair.

In his post confirming his departure, Timothy wrote: “Yesterday, I resigned as the prime minister’s adviser. Clearly, the general election result was a huge disappointment. I take responsibility for my part in this election campaign.”

He urged Tory MPs to "get behind" May but said nothing should be allowed to get in the way of the process of forming a government and beginning Brexit talks.

He said the Conservatives' failure to win was down to an "unexpected surge" of support for Labour and he conceded his party had failed to communicate a sufficiently "positive" message to voters and address their "frustrations" over years of austerity and inter-generational divisions, including over Brexit.

While defending the party's manifesto, he added: "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."

The Guardian cited senior members of May’s team as warning that anger had been mounting at the two chiefs of staff, in particular at Hill for her bullying behaviour.

“It’s unacceptable for her to send sweary texts to cabinet ministers,” said another member of the cabinet who described Hill telling a senior government figure to “fuck off”.

Theresa May’s ex-communications chief Katie Perrior said on Saturday morning that the operation was “pretty dysfunctional”. 

Writing in the Times, she said: “What I could never work out was whether Mrs May condoned their behaviour and turned a blind eye or didn’t understand how destructive they both were. For all the love of a hierarchy, the chiefs treated cabinet members exactly the same – rude, abusive, childish behaviour.

“For two people who have never achieved elected office, I was staggered at the disrespect they showed on a daily basis. I never hated them. I felt sorry for them and how they measured success by how many enemies they had clocked up.”