British Prime Minister Theresa May won a temporary reprieve on Wednesday as Conservative MPs backed her by a majority of 83 in a secret ballot, after “hard” Brexiteers triggered a no-confidence vote in her leadership. The MPs voted 200 to 117 in favour of the Prime Minister, which will mean she cannot be challenged in another party no-confidence vote for the next year.
Ms. May welcomed the result and urged MPs to come together to deliver on Brexit. She is set to attend an EU Council meeting on Thursday , at which she promised to garner legal and political assurances to “assuage concerns” of her parliamentary colleagues.
It is far from a clear-cut victory for the Prime Minister . In a meeting earlier in the evening in an attempt to persuade more MPs to support her she told colleagues she would not lead the party into the next general election, meaning the battle to become her successor will be well underway. The large number of MPs who voted against her also provides an indication of the challenge ahead of her, both when it comes to getting her controversial withdrawal deal through the House of Commons and further Brexit legislation beyond that. Her opponents noted after the result that while she had won the majority, if one considered MPs who were not part of the government and simply backbenchers, the majority had voted against her.
She could also face a separate parliamentary motion of no confidence, should the Labour party — the official opposition — choose to trigger that voting process.
The Labour Party renewed its call for a new general election. “After 40 years tearing itself apart over Europe, tonight’s vote shows the Tory party is finally and irrevocably split in two. It is incapable of agreeing a Brexit deal and unfit to govern,” said Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson, following the vote.
Ahead of the vote, cabinet members such as Home Secretary Sajid Javid, and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt as well as former Prime Minister David Cameron took to Twitter to publicly highlight their support for the Prime Minister, even as members of the right-wing European Research Group of MPs such as Jacob Rees-Mogg flaunted their aspirations for a new leader. They believe a leader who would be willing to risk a no-deal Brexit is more likely to extract concessions from EU leaders.
Ms. May is facing criticism from the right and left of her party, who are united in their belief that the terms of the Brexit withdrawal agreement agreed with the EU aren’t in the nation’s best interests. Hard Brexiteers want her to renegotiate the backstop -or insurance — policy to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland which would (under the current deal) involve Northern Ireland entering the EU customs union with no unilateral exit option for the UK if the backstop kicks in. Others want her to call a second referendum. With opposition parties also uniting in their opposition to the deal, the level of rebellion within the Conservative Party indicates the obstacles May is likely to continue to face. She will inevitably face renewed pressure – including from within her cabinet — from those who supported her in the vote, to attempt to renegotiate with Europe.
