British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday that toppling her would risk delaying Brexit and she would not let talk of a leadership challenge distract her from a critical week of negotiations with Brussels.
Since unveiling a draft divorce deal with the European Union (EU) on Wednesday, Ms. May’s premiership has been thrust into crisis by the resignation of several Ministers, including her Brexit Minister, and some of her own lawmakers seeking to oust her.
“A change of leadership at this point isn’t going to make the negotiations any easier... what it will do is mean that there is a risk that actually we delay the negotiations and that is a risk that Brexit gets delayed or frustrated,” she told Sky News.
To trigger a confidence vote, 48 of her Conservative lawmakers must submit a letter to the chairman of the party’s so-called 1922 committee, Graham Brady. More than 20 lawmakers have said publicly that they have submitted a letter, but others are expected to have done so confidentially. Mr. Brady told BBC Radio on Sunday the 48 threshold had not yet been reached.
Mr. Brady said he thought it was likely Ms. May would win any confidence vote.
Mark Francois, one lawmaker who has submitted a letter, said he expected some colleagues were taking soundings from local party members in their constituencies over the weekend before deciding whether to submit a letter.
The pro-Brexit ERG group of Conservative MPs published its assessment of the deal on Sunday, saying it would leave Britain “half in and half out” of the EU.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would vote against Ms. May’s deal when it came to Parliament and the government should go back to Brussels for further negotiations. He said that was a priority ahead of pushing for a so-called people’s vote on the final agreement.
