Theresa May's advisers Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill have both resigned after the Conservative Party’s horror election result. Picture: Getty

Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill both stepped down after facing furious criticism from party MPs and officials who said they played a significant role in the party’s poor performance at the election.

“I take responsibility for my part in this election campaign,” Mr Timothy wrote in a blog post on the Conservative Home website announcing his decision to quit.

However he rejected “bizarre media reports” that he had personally overseen a bungled social care policy in the manifesto.

Katie Perrior, who acted as Ms May’s director of communications for 10 months before resigning when a snap general election was called, said the pair operated in a “pretty dysfunctional” manner.

Asked if the pair bullied cabinet ministers, Perrior told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: “I think so. I think there was not enough respect shown to people that had spent 20 years in office or 20 years getting to the top seat in government. “I felt sending people rude text messages was unacceptable.

Katie Perrior worked as Theresa May's director of communication for 10 months. Picture: SuppliedSource:Supplied

“I felt what the prime minister needs when you’re going through a tough time like negotiating Brexit is diplomats, not street fighters. They really only know one way to operate and that’s to have enemies and I’m sure I’m one of those this morning.”

Asked if she was pushed out, Perrior said she hadn’t.

“But at the same time I’ve got to say every month that went past I thought ‘Well, brilliant, I’ve been hanging on for another month’, because it was pretty toxic.”

She said she saw Ms May stand up to Ms Hill “only a handful of times”.

After recalling one such moment over how to campaign during the Copeland by-election, Perrior wrote: “Normally we would all sit there while Fiona would raise some bats**t crazy idea and not say a word.

“This one clearly had the prime minister rattled.”

MERKEL WANTS BREXIT ‘DONE QUICKLY’

ANGELA Merkel has dumped further misery on British Prime Minister Theresa May by saying she wants Brexit negotiations “done quickly”.

The German chancellor said the EU wants to talk progress and hold the discussions as scheduled in nine days, The Sun reports.

And she further twisted the knife into May by warning the group will defend the interests of its members during the looming divorce proceedings.

Speaking during a visit to Mexico, Merkel ended her brief period of “polite” restraint from commenting on May’s catastrophic poll.

She said: “We are ready for the negotiations. We want to do it quickly, respecting the calendar.

“We were waiting for the election in Britain, but in the next few days these talks will begin.

“We will defend the interests of the 27 member states, and Britain will defend its own interests.”

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they gather with NATO members this year. Picture: GettySource:AP

The news comes as Mrs May has reappointed her three leadership rivals to top Cabinet positions as she fights to hold her job, after leading the Conservatives into a disastrous election and minority government.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Brexit Secretary David Davis were all reappointed yesterday, hours after a chastened Mrs May visited the Queen and obtained approval to form a minority government with the help of the little-known Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland.

Prime Minister Theresa May leaves Downing Street with her husband Philip. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

The move is designed to buy the besieged Prime Minister time as she tries to shore up her position, 10 days before the start of formal negotiations with Brussels over the Brexit divorce bill.

Senior DUP officials arrived in London last night to begin the negotiations.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also continued to assert he was prepared to serve in a minority government of his own, but would not do any deals with other parties.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster surrounded by her party members. Picture: APSource:AP

As Labour celebrated its haul of 30 new seats in the House of Commons, Britons who had been told by Mrs May the election must be held three years early to give her a clear majority to negotiate the Brexit deal, woke instead to find she had lost 13 seats and damaged her leadership, probably fatally.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Headquarters. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

In a contrite video message, Mrs May apologised to the nation and to her ousted colleagues, saying while she had sought an increased majority, “that was not the result that we secured.’’

“As I reflect on the result, I will reflect on what we need to do in the future to take the party forward,’’ she said.

“I am sorry for those candidates and hardworking party workers who weren’t successful but also particularly sorry for those colleagues who were MPs or ministers who had contributed so much to our country and who lost their seats and didn’t deserve to lose their seats.’’

Newspapers fronted with photos of British Prime Minister Theresa May and others are displayed at a shop in Westminster in London. Picture: APSource:AP

She did not commit to serving the full five-year term as prime minister.

While the election result — which gave the Tories 318 seats in the 650-seat chamber — will see them finish with the same 17-seat working majority they had in the last Parliament, Mrs May is a greatly diminished figure and will be vulnerable to attack from internal critics opposed to her “hard Brexit’’ plans.

It would only take a handful of Tory rebels to cross the floor to block attempts by Mrs May to leave the European single market, the Customs union, and impose strict migration limits.

Entrenched May critic, sacked former Chancellor George Osborne, said: “Hard Brexit went in the rubbish bin.’’

At least three Tory MPs — Sarah Wollaston, Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan — publicly called for Mrs May to resign.

Her hasty reappointment of some of the big guns in Cabinet should buy her some time, but Mr Johnson and Ms Rudd were strangely absent from the media in the hours after the election result became clear.

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Chancellor Philip Hammond were also reappointed.

Protesters outside Downing Street in London call on Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May to resign. Picture: PA via APSource:AP

The European Union upped the pressure yesterday with EU Council president Donald Tusk writing to Mrs May to kill off suggestions the talks could be delayed, saying there was “no time to lose’’.

There was plenty of blame to go around yesterday and some of it was levelled at the Australian political mastermind who worked on the Tory campaign, Sir Lynton Crosby.

Knighted after he helped steer David Cameron to victory in 2015, Sir Lynton was involved not with the flawed Conservative policy manifesto but the polling and some of the media messaging, in a campaign where Mrs May remained aloof, and shunned the media and TV debates.

Originally published as May’s ‘toxic’ advisers quit