THERESA MAY’S DEFEAT IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT

■ 166: This was the size of the previous largest government defeat on the floor of the House of Commons in modern times. It occurred on October 8, 1924, when the minority Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald lost a vote by 364 votes to 198.

■ 86: The previous largest post-war defeat where at least 50 per cent of the Commons voted. It happened on January 25, 1978 to Mr Callaghan’s government, when

MPs voted by 204 to

118 on an opposition amendment to the

Scotland Devolution Bill, which excluded Orkney and Shetland from the provisions of the Bill if they voted “no” in a referendum.

■ 139: The largest rebellion in modern British politics. On March 18, 2003, 139 Labour MPs defied Prime Minister Tony Blair and voted against war in Iraq.

■ 95: The previous largest Conservative rebellion of modern British politics was in 1997, when nearly 100 Conservative MPs defied Prime Minister John Major and voted against gun controls introduced in response to the Dunblane shooting.

■ 1993: The last time a confidence motion was formally tabled in the House of Commons. On July 23, 1993, the Conservative Government of John Major tabled a motion of confidence in itself, to shore up support following its defeat the previous day on the Maastricht Treaty Social Chapter. The Government won the motion 339 to 299.

■ 3: The number of times since 1900 a government has lost a vote of confidence: twice in 1924 and once in 1979.