Theresa May and inner circle face backlash from furious Tory MPs

Theresa May is clinging to power and facing a backlash from Conservative MPs over her election gamble that backfired.

Many Tories are furious with the Prime Minister for losing her Commons majority and are blaming her personally and her inner circle.

Even normally loyal MPs say the social care muddle was a big vote loser and are holding her joint chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, responsible.

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Some top Tories are also unhappy that Mrs May has turned to the Democratic Unionist Party – which opposes gay marriage – to prop up the Tories in the Commons.

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The heroine of the Conservative campaign, Scottish leader Ruth Davidson, signalled her opposition by tweeting a link to a same-sex marriage lecture she gave last year.

Ms Davidson telephoned the Prime Minister and demanded assurances that she was not planning to ditch Tory commitments to gay rights in return for DUP votes in the Commons.

According to many MPs, re-appointing the Chancellor Philip Hammond, who was tipped for the sack if the Tories won a big majority, is seen as sign of the Prime Minister’s weakness.

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Also re-appointed, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is said to be "on manoeuvres" and sounding out MPs about a leadership bid.

Loyalists but potential rivals Amber Rudd, David Davis and Sir Michael Fallon also stay put, meaning it’s as you were for the top five Cabinet ministers.

As she retreated inside No. 10, it was claimed the Prime Minister had to be told to apologise to her defeated MPs and ministers, by the chairman of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady.

In a TV interview, she said: "As I reflect on the result, I will reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward.

"I am sorry for those candidates and hard-working party workers who weren’t successful but also particularly sorry for those colleagues who were MPs or ministers who had contributed so much to our country and who lost their seats and didn’t deserve to lose their seats."

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One Conservative MP, Heidi Allen, predicted she would be gone in six months. Other Conservative MPs are said to be taking soundings about removing Mrs May in the autumn.

Others such as Sarah Wollaston, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan have also called for Mrs May to step aside – with the latter suggesting she should go within "weeks or months’" because her "credibility is shot".

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After the backlash from her MPs the Prime Minister left Downing Street by the back door. But she can’t hide from those Tory MPs who are now turning on her.

And nearly 24 hours after polls closed across the country, Labour finally took the central London seat of Kensington after three recounts, meaning the final tally remained at 318 seats for the Conservatives and 262 for Labour.

The painstaking counting process ended up revealing Emma Dent Coad won by just 20 votes, claiming 16,333 against Tory’s Victoria Borwick’s 16,313.

(c) Sky News 2017: Theresa May and inner circle face backlash from furious Tory MPs