A SENIOR Conservative MP has said Theresa May could win backing for her Brexit deal despite the turmoil at Westminster.

New Forest West Conservative Sir Desmond Swayne said he was “not going to be hurried” into deciding whether to support Mrs May’s proposed withdrawal agreement.

It emerged on Friday morning that leading Euro-sceptic Michael Gove was not going to resign from the cabinet, although it is now considered likely that Mrs May will face a no-confidence vote among her own MPs.

Sir Desmond said: “I need to balance the reasons that are involved with no agreement with the other risks that are involved – the risks of leaving the EU without a deal or indeed the risks of not leaving the EU at all.

“Only after the process of considering all those options will I be in a position to in a position to be able to say I’m voting for or against he agreement and I’m not going to be hurried.”

He said he had received around 200 emails over the issue in the past 24 hours and they were “split down the middle”.

But he said the prime minister could still win backing for the plan. “She’s really got to have a majority in parliament and that’s undoubtedly going to be difficult but it is possible,” he added.

North Dorset MP Simon Hoare – one of only two Remain-supporting MPs in Dorset – has told the BBC that he expects the withdrawal agreement to pass through parliament despite the rough reception Mrs May had in the House of Commons on Thursday.