British PM survives political crisis.
LONDON >> Prime Minister Theresa May survived a humiliating challenge to her leadership Wednesday night, beating back a noconfidence vote triggered by rebels in her Conservative Party who oppose her compromise deal on how to leave the European Union.
May won the party-only vote by 200 to 117, comfortably surpassing the simple majority of 159 votes she needed to hold on to power. But it was hardly a victory.
The public brawling and parliamentary challenge by her fellow Tories leaves May a wounded leader. The British prime minister is now immune to a leadership challenge by her party for a year, but she faces lawmakers hostile to her Brexit deal, which remains broadly unpopular.
In Brussels, May’s survival offered measured relief to EU leaders, who have little option other than hoping she can hold on and get the Brexit deal approved by Parliament before the March 29 exit date.
But many countries have sped up emergency preparations, fearing that Britain’s political paralysis will lead it to crash out of the EU without a deal.
“Glad about the outcome of tonight’s vote,” Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz wrote on Twitter. “Our shared goal is to avoid a nodeal scenario.”
A no-deal Brexit could result in chaos at ports, a freeze in trade, empty grocery store shelves, grounded aircraft and the threat of recession, economists have warned.
Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian
politician and Brexit coordinator for the European Parliament, tweeted, “Even in the Tory party, there is no majority for no deal or hard Brexit.”
Shortly after the vote that saved her job, May said, “This has been a long and challenging day. But, at the end of it, I’m pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight’s ballot.”
May declared she had a “renewed mission: Delivering the Brexit people voted for, bringing the country back together and building a country that really works for everyone.”
She had earlier warned rebellious lawmakers that ousting her would not make getting a better Brexit deal any easier but would bring delay and confusion.
In an 11th-hour meeting with her backbench, apparently to win further support, May told Tory members that she would not stand for election before the public again.
George Freeman, a Conservative member of Parliament, spoke of a “powerful and moving moment” as May told her fellow Tories that she has “listened, heard and respects the will of the party” and that once she delivers Brexit “she will step aside for the election of a new leader to lead the reunification and renewal we need.”
Delivering Brexit, however, could take months or, more likely, years.
May and her Brexit plan have been pummeled for weeks by members of Parliament, from her own party and the opposition. Hard-line Brexiteers want a cleaner break from the EU, while remainers worry about the economic and other costs of what May has proposed.