Theresa May Facing No Confidence Vote Today

[Updated] United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May will face a no confidence vote by Conservative MPs today [Dec 12] after 48 Conservative MPs wrote letters expressing no confidence in her leadership.

The BBC reported, “UK Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote of confidence in her leadership later on Wednesday.

“Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Mrs May said: “I will contest that vote with everything I have got.”

“She said a new prime minister would have to scrap or extend Article 50, the mechanism taking Britain out of the EU on 29 March, “delaying or even stopping Brexit”.

“Conservative MPs will vote from 18:00 GMT to 20:00 GMT. A result is expected fairly quickly after the voting finishes.

“If Mrs May wins the confidence vote she cannot be challenged as Conservative leader for at least another year. If she does not win the vote there would then be a Conservative leadership contest in which she could not stand.

“If Mrs May won – but not overwhelmingly – she may decide to stand down as party leader and trigger a leadership contest in which she could not stand.”

The Guardian reported, “Conservative MPs have triggered a vote of no confidence in Theresa May, plunging the Brexit process into chaos as Tory colleagues indicated they no longer had faith in the prime minister to deliver the deal.

“Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, has received at least 48 letters from Conservative MPs calling for a vote of no confidence in May. Under party rules, a contest is triggered if 15% of Conservative MPs write to the chair of the committee of Tory backbenchers.

“The prime minister will need the backing of at least 158 Tory MPs to see off the Brexiters’ challenge; her position would then be safe for 12 months. However, the prime minister could decide to resign if votes against her were below the threshold to topple her, but significant enough in number.”

Update 5.25pm: Theresa May won the confidence vote “with a majority of 83, with 63% of Conservative MPs backing her and 37% voting against her.”

The BBC reported, “The result was greeted by cheers and applause from Tory MPs as it was announced by backbench Tory chairman Sir Graham Brady.

“It means Mrs May is immune from another leadership challenge for a year. She won the confidence vote with a majority of 83, with 63% of Conservative MPs backing her and 37% voting against her.

“The vote was triggered by 48 of her MPs angry at her Brexit policy, which they say betrays the 2016 referendum result. Jacob Rees-Mogg, who led calls for the confidence vote, said it was a “terrible result for the prime minister” and called on her to resign.

“The prime minister still faces a battle to get the Brexit deal she agreed with the EU through the UK Parliament, with all opposition parties and dozens of her own MPs against it.”

The Guardian reported, “Theresa May has secured the backing of Conservative MPs to stay on as prime minister and finish the job of leading Britain out of the EU – but only after promising to step aside before 2022.

“Tory MPs rejected a no-confidence motion in the embattled prime minister’s leadership by 200 votes to 117, as the contest underscored the bitter split in the party over Brexit.

“A loud cheer erupted among MPs, as chair of the backbench 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, announced: “The result of the ballot held this evening is that the parliamentary party does have confidence in Theresa May” – and confirmed that she could not now be challenged for another year.

But the 117 votes cast against her underlined the battle she will face in persuading MPs to back her Brexit deal.”

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