May faces party trust vote, says Brexit is at stake
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 per cent.
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.