Tories wary of May's pledge to fight next election
UK Prime Minister Theresa May's overnight claim that show would contest the next General Election was met with some scepticism by members of her own party on Thursday.
The next election must be held by 2022. May spectacularly lost the government's parliamentary majority in June's snap vote after blowing a 22 point opinion poll lead.
The vote resulted in a hung parliament and forced the weakened prime minister into a controversial pact with Northern Ireland's right wing Democratic Unionist Party in order for her to get legislation through.
However, in an interview with the BBC while on a trade trip to Japan, May insisted she was going nowhere.
"Yes, I'm here for the long term. What me and my government are about is not just delivering on Brexit but delivering a brighter future for the UK," she said.
Many observers feel May will struggle to hold the party together as clearer internal divisions emerge over the shape of any final Brexit deal and that an election will be held before 2022.
Former Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps said May's claim "will certainly raise some eyebrows".
"The truth is we ran a very poor election and you can't just brush that under the table and pretend it didn't happen - not least because we went from having a workable majority to no majority at all, so that stands to reason,” he told the BBC.