PM Theresa May faced No Confidence vote
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LONDON – Prime Minister Theresa May faced a no-confidence vote on Wednesday after dozens of MPs from her own Conservative Party called for one in the wake of her desperate decision to delay a vote on Brexit she was certain to lose.
Graham Brady, the head of the party committee in charge of elections, said the vote by Conservative Party lawmakers will be held between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm (1800 and 2000 GMT) on Wednesday.
The results will be “announced as soon as possible in the evening,” he said.
If May loses that vote, a leadership election is held and, if a new party leader is elected, he or she becomes the new prime minister.
The fate of both her unpopular draft withdrawal agreement and her government are now in the balance with the clocking ticking down to Britain’s March 29 departure from the European Union after 46 years.
The no-confidence vote was triggered after months of plotting by Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs to collect the minimum 48 letters from MPs necessary to trigger a vote.
Several past members of May’s government — including former foreign minister Boris Johnson — have had their eyes on the premiership post.
If May survived the motion, no second one could be taken by party members for another year.
Several top members of her cabinet quickly rallied to her support. “The last thing our country needs right now is a Conservative Party leadership election,” Home Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted. Javid himself has been mentioned as a possible replacement for May.
“Will be seen as self-indulgent and wrong. PM has my full support and is best person to ensure we leave EU on 29 March,” Javid wrote.
