Theresa May recruiting new Downing Street staff on two-year fixed-term contracts

There is speculation that the Prime Minister may not serve a full term

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron: ‘Who would want this job? The U-turner-in-chief is not a role that is electrifying Whitehall.’ (EPA)

Theresa May is recruiting a new spokesperson on a two-year fixed-term contract, reinforcing speculation that she may not aim to serve a full parliamentary term as Prime Minister.

The job advert, posted on the civil service website, says the job is a “two to three years fixed term appointment with a view to permanency,” which arguably mirrors Ms May’s own situation.

The conditions of employment mean that the spokesperson’s contract would end in 2019 or 2020 – well before the next scheduled election under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in 2022.

The successful applicant will need “the risk management and crisis communications skills needed to avoid pitfalls and fight fires,” the job advert ominously adds.

The salary of the job, which is for Deputy Spokesperson to the Prime Minister, is £87,500 per year, putting its ultimate occupant solidly in the top 5 per cent of earners.

Since Ms May unexpectedly blew a 20-point poll lead in the snap general election last month, she has been the subject of rumoured plots to oust her within the Conservative party.

One bookies now has Ms May at 2/5 odds to leave before the end of Brexit negotiations in March 2019.

During a briefing with journalists on the plane to the G20 on Hamburg last week, the PM pointedly refused to say whether she would step down – though she later said she expected to be in place for the whole Brexit negotiations.

Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said the advert confirmed suspicions that the PM could be “turfed out by a restless party at any time”.

“This shows a lame duck Prime Minister residing of a government that has run out of steam and run out of ideas,” he said.

“Who would want this job? The U-turner-in-chief is not a role that is electrifying Whitehall. No sensible applicant would want to work for someone in office but without power and could be turfed out by a restless party at any time.”