British PM Theresa May survives vote of confidence

London, United Kingdom – British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence triggered by MPs of her ruling Conservative Party.

Two-hundred of the Conservatives’ 317 members of parliament voted in support of May’s leadership during the secret ballot, held within the UK parliament’s lower chamber House of Commons on Wednesday evening. However, 117 of her colleagues went against her. 

Had a majority voted against May, the 62-year-old would have been forced to resign as party leader and expected to stand down as prime minister. She is now immune from another party leadership challenge for 12 months.

“Whilst I’m grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast votes against me. And I’ve listened to what they said,” May told the media.

“Following this ballot we now need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit to the British people and building a better future for this country.”

May said her government had a “renewed mission to deliver the Brexit people voted for”. 

“A Brexit that … brings back control of our money, borders and laws,” she added.

“That must start here in Westminster, with politicians on all sides coming together and acting in the national interest.”

‘Changes nothing’

But opposition party politicians and disgruntled members of her own party said Wednesday’s confidence vote would not alleviate the chaos gripping May’s government as it seeks to navigate the UK’s departure from the 28-member European Union.

The main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said the vote “changes nothing”.

“Theresa May has lost her majority in parliament, her government is in chaos and she’s unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country and puts jobs and the economy first. She must now bring her botched deal back to parliament next week,” he said in a tweet.

MP and chair of the pro-Brexit parliamentary backbench European Research Group Jacob Rees-Mogg described the result as “terrible” for the prime minister and called on her to resign.

Wednesday’s confidence vote was announced after a 15 percent threshold of Conservative MPs – including Rees-Mogg – wrote to the party’s backbench parliamentary committee demanding a say on May’s leadership of the party.

Analysts, meanwhile, said May’s political survival wouldn’t resolve the “fundamental problem” she faces in attempting to get her widely maligned EU withdrawal plan signed off by MPs.

“This vote wont change anything with regards to how it will be difficult for her to get her version of Brexit through parliament and if she can’t do that she wont be able to stay on as prime minister or leader anyway,” Oliver Patel, institute manager and research associate at University College London’s European Institute, said.

“The parliamentary arithmetic is the same: the only thing we know for certain is that most MPs don’t want a no-deal Brexit,” he added.

Irish Border issue

May is under intense pressure from across the political spectrum over her brokered EU withdrawal agreement with European counterparts.

Earlier this week, she pulled a parliamentary vote on the divorce deal, acknowledging it would have been roundly rejected by the UK’s lower chamber House of Commons.

She has promised to reschedule the vote for before January 21.

On Tuesday, a day after she announced the postponement, May embarked on a whistle-stop tour of European cities in a bid to win concessions on its contentious “backstop” clause.

The clause is a safety net provision that guarantees no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the event that post-Brexit trade negotiations between the UK and the EU prove unsuccessful.

It proposes the whole of the UK, including Northern Ireland, remain in a customs union with the EU “unless and until” the bloc agrees there is no prospect of a return to a hard border.

Critics of the proposal argue it could tie the UK into the EU’s orbit indefinitely.

May said she would head to Brussels on Thursday to seek “legal and political reassurances” on the backstop clause to “assuage the concerns that members of parliament have on that issue”.

But analysts cautioned that May’s government ought to be careful what it “wishes for” in pushing for revised terms.

“Some EU capitals are not perfectly happy with some aspects of this deal, including the final shape of the backstop,” said Agata Gostynska-Jakubowska, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform.

“Any reopening of negotiations could result in opening Pandora’s Box and EU states saying we don’t like this and that [in the deal].”