Andrea Leadsom is “seriously considering” standing in the coming Conservative Party leadership contest.
The leader of the House of Commons said on Wednesday she was “disgusted” that the UK had not yet left the EU.
Leadsom, who campaigned for Brexit at the referendum, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain she believed Theresa May’s deal was “tolerable”.
The prime minister is under increasing pressure from within her party to name a date for her departure.
According to The Times, Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the backbench 1922 committee, has given May a deadline of 4pm today to set out a timetable for her resignation.
May has promised to quit once her Withdrawal Agreement is ratified, but has not made clear what she will do if it fails to pass through parliament.
Cross-party talks on a compromise deal are ongoing, with Labour insisting the government still needs to shift on its red lines.
And with May’s effective deputy David Lidington suggesting he hoped the deal can be concluded by July, there is speculation she may seek to hang on until the annual party conference in the autumn.
Leadsom stood in the 2016 Tory leadership race against May but ultimately dropped out.
Asked if she would run this time, Leadsom said: “Yes, I am seriously considering standing.”
“I’m disgusted at the fact that nearly three years on and still we haven’t left the EU,” she said.
Speaking about May’s deal, Leadsom added: “I would say it was tolerable. I’ve always felt that no deal would not be ideal for the country. Right now, I would be prepared to have no deal. I think the country is very well prepared for that.”
“What I think Theresa May’s deal does, it treads the fine balance between delivering Brexit but at the same time keeping the close relationship with the European Union that those on the Remain side wanted to see.”