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Reuters
LONDON
Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to win a vote of no confidence triggered by angry Brexit supporters in her Conservative Party on Wednesday, saying her ouster would jeopardise Britain’s divorce from the European Union.
Less than four months before the United Kingdom is due to leave on March 29, Brexit is in chaos with options ranging from a potentially disorderly no-deal departure to another referendum that could reverse it.
Hours before her lawmakers were due to decide her fate, May said she would fight for her job with everything she had.
She could be toppled if a simple majority of 317 Conservative MPs (members of parliament) vote against her, though a large rebellion could also leave her fatally weakened. At least 189 indicated public support for her and one bookmaker had the odds she would win at 89 percent. A bitter division over Europe in the Conservatives helped bring about the downfall of all three previous Conservative premiers - David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.
May, 62, who voted to remain in the EU at a 2016 referendum, told opponents of her EU withdrawal deal - struck after two years of negotiations - that if they toppled her, then Brexit would be delayed or stopped.
“A change of leadership in the Conservative Party now would put our country’s future at risk and create uncertainty when we can least afford it,” she said. “I stand ready to finish the job.”
May said that a new leader would not have time to renegotiate Brexit and secure parliamentary approval by the end of March, meaning the Article 50 withdrawal notice would have to be extended or rescinded.
May arrived to address her lawmakers at a closed meeting before they cast votes in a metal box from 1800 GMT in Committee Room 14 at the House of Commons.
An announcement is due at 2100. In a possible sign May might then offer a date for her resignation after Brexit, her spokesman said the vote would not be about who leads the party into the next election, due in 2022.
“The size of the vote does matter,” said polling expert John Curtice. “If much more than 100 MPs vote against her then I think she is going to be struggling to remain for very long and would find it difficult to get that deal through the House of Commons.”
Brexit is Britain’s most significant political and economic decision since World War Two, though pro-Europeans fear it will weaken the West as it grapples with the presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.
LONDON
Prime Minister Theresa May vowed to win a vote of no confidence triggered by angry Brexit supporters in her Conservative Party on Wednesday, saying her ouster would jeopardise Britain’s divorce from the European Union.
Less than four months before the United Kingdom is due to leave on March 29, Brexit is in chaos with options ranging from a potentially disorderly no-deal departure to another referendum that could reverse it.
Hours before her lawmakers were due to decide her fate, May said she would fight for her job with everything she had.
She could be toppled if a simple majority of 317 Conservative MPs (members of parliament) vote against her, though a large rebellion could also leave her fatally weakened. At least 189 indicated public support for her and one bookmaker had the odds she would win at 89 percent. A bitter division over Europe in the Conservatives helped bring about the downfall of all three previous Conservative premiers - David Cameron, John Major and Margaret Thatcher.
May, 62, who voted to remain in the EU at a 2016 referendum, told opponents of her EU withdrawal deal - struck after two years of negotiations - that if they toppled her, then Brexit would be delayed or stopped.
“A change of leadership in the Conservative Party now would put our country’s future at risk and create uncertainty when we can least afford it,” she said. “I stand ready to finish the job.”
May said that a new leader would not have time to renegotiate Brexit and secure parliamentary approval by the end of March, meaning the Article 50 withdrawal notice would have to be extended or rescinded.
May arrived to address her lawmakers at a closed meeting before they cast votes in a metal box from 1800 GMT in Committee Room 14 at the House of Commons.
An announcement is due at 2100. In a possible sign May might then offer a date for her resignation after Brexit, her spokesman said the vote would not be about who leads the party into the next election, due in 2022.
“The size of the vote does matter,” said polling expert John Curtice. “If much more than 100 MPs vote against her then I think she is going to be struggling to remain for very long and would find it difficult to get that deal through the House of Commons.”
Brexit is Britain’s most significant political and economic decision since World War Two, though pro-Europeans fear it will weaken the West as it grapples with the presidency of Donald Trump and growing assertiveness from Russia and China.
