UK’s May wins no-confidence vote by MPs
Small margin of victory leaves her weakened
LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a political crisis over her Brexit deal Wednesday, winning a noconfidence vote by Conservative lawmakers that would have ended her leadership of party and country.
But the margin of victory — 200 votes to 117 — leaves May a weakened leader who has lost the support of a big chunk of her party over her handling of Britain’s exit from the European Union. It also came at a steep price as she promised not to run for re-election in 2022. Britain’s Brexit problem, meanwhile, remains unsolved as May seeks changes to her EU divorce deal in order to make it more palatable to Parliament.
May said she was “pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues,” but acknowledged that “a significant number” had voted against her in Wednesday evening’s secret ballot.
“I have listened to what they said,” May promised after what she called a “long and challenging day.”
The threat to May had been building as pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers grew increasingly frustrated with the prime minister’s handling of the issue. Many supporters of Brexit say May’s deal, a compromise that retains close economic ties with the EU, fails to deliver on the clean break that they want.
The balloting came after May’s Conservative opponents, who circled the prime minister for weeks hoping to spark a noconfidence vote, finally got the numbers they needed to call one when at least 48 lawmakers —15 percent of Conservative legislators — wrote letters asking for a no-confidence ballot.
On Monday, May postponed a vote to approve the divorce deal to avoid all-but-certain defeat. She has until Jan. 21 to bring it back to Parliament after — she hopes — winning concessions from the EU.
The result of the vote was announced to loud cheers from lawmakers in a room in the House of Commons. Under party rules, May cannot be challenged again by fellow Conservatives for a year.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, an ally, said the result showed that May “has the support of her party.”
“This is a clear statement by the parliamentary party they want her to go forward, they want her to lead us through Brexit,” he told Sky News.
But pro-Brexit lawmaker Mark Francois said the result was “devastating” for May, who has lost the support of a third of her party in Parliament.
“If I were her, I wouldn’t be pleased with this at all,” Francois said. “I think she needs to think very carefully about what to do now.”
Before the vote Wednesday, May had vowed to fight for the leadership of her party and the country “with everything I’ve got,” and spent the day holed up in the House of Commons trying to win over enough lawmakers to secure victory.