LONDON
(Reuters) - British transport minister Chris Grayling, one of Prime Minister
Theresa May's closest cabinet colleagues, has predicted she will remain in the
job until
at least 2020 and could even fight another national election.
Following
reports of cabinet infighting, Grayling said in an interview with the Daily
Telegraph, published on Saturday, he was confident May would continue as prime
minister once Brexit has been achieved in March 2019 because "she commands
the overwhelming support of the Conservative Party".
Grayling was
May's campaign manager when she won the Conservative Party leadership in 2016.
May's
authority has been weakened after she lost her parliamentary majority in June's
election.
She has
vowed to stay on as prime minister, and senior members of her party say there
is no appetite for a leadership contest or a fresh election.
However,
that has not stopped reports of infighting among ministers as potential
successors vie for her job.
The Daily
Telegraph asked Grayling whether he thought May would still be PM in 2020,
rather than being forced out after Brexit in 2019.
He said:
"I absolutely want her to be and I think she will be."
Grayling did
not rule out May fighting another election.
"Who
knows? We'll see further down the road what happens, but ultimately I think it
will be her choice, as it should for any prime minister about how long they
want to serve."
Grayling
also said there had been "a lot of exaggeration" about the extent of
the row between his various cabinet colleagues.
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