LONDON — Several senior members of Mrs Theresa May’s Cabinet came out to defend the embattled Prime Minister yesterday amid doubts about whether she will remain in power after last week’s disastrous election, which saw her party’s majority wiped out in Parliament.

Mrs May met lawmakers from her Conservative Party yesterday to convince them that she should remain as leader after some had called for her to quit, following her lacklustre campaign and decision to call the election in the first place.

Playing down the prospect of an immediate challenge to Mrs May’s leadership, Brexit Minister David Davis — who has been touted as a contender to replace the prime minister — said speculation about her removal was “unbelievably self-indulgent”.

He told ITV that he is an “unswerving supporter” of Mrs May, and that there is a distinction between “running a campaign and running a country. Running a country is more difficult and she’s formidably good at that’’.

“You’re going to see in the next few weeks her taking back command, her taking back the reins, her showing what she’s good at, which is delivering for the country,” he said as he sought to soothe over the political turmoil that has gripped the government since Thursday’s election.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who is also touted to replace Mrs May should she be forced out, wrote in The Sun newspaper that people “have had a bellyful of promises and politicking”, and that “now is the time for delivery — and Theresa May is the right person to continue that vital work”.

Despite the speculation over Mrs May’s fate, her position appears secure for now.

“I don’t detect any great appetite amongst my colleagues for presenting the public with a massive additional dose of uncertainty by getting involved in a self-indulgent Conservative Party internal election campaign,” Mr Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers, told BBC TV.

Mrs May has struggled to reassert her authority after losing her parliamentary majority in the snap election. The Conservatives won 318 House of Commons seats, eight short of an outright majority.

Labour, the main opposition party, won 262, while Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) won 10 seats.

Ignoring demands that she resign, Mrs May said on Friday that she will form a minority government with the support of the DUP in the form of a loose alliance.

On Sunday, she unveiled her full Cabinet, making few changes.

Mrs May is due to meet DUP leader Arlene Foster today to hammer out a deal to support the minority government.

The first test of any deal is expected to come at the Queen’s Speech — a formal occasion at which the government asks Parliament to approve its legislative agenda.

The speech was scheduled to take place on June 19, but the BBC reported that it would be pushed back by a few days.

The shock election result has also raised questions about how Mrs May will advance with her plan to take Britain out of the European Union (EU).

The premier had planned a clean break from the EU, but some Conservatives and opponents hope that the election shock will lead to a “softer” Brexit — one which prioritises close trade links over controlling immigration. AGENCIES