British Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote of no-confidence from members of her own Conservative party on Wednesday, as the backlash against her leadership grows while she tries to salvage her Brexit deal.
Brexiteers within her party have reached the threshold of support they need to trigger a no-confidence vote in the prime minister, according to Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party’s ‘1922 Committee’, a group of influential backbench members of parliament (MPs).
A leadership contest in May has been triggered after 15 percent of the Conservative parliamentary party submitted letters to Brady and a ballot will be held between 1800 to 2000 on December 12, the 1922 Committee said in a press release. CNBC has contacted Downing Street for a reaction Wednesday morning.
Under party rules, if 48 Conservative MPs submit letters to the chair of the 1922 Committee stating they no longer support her, a leadership contest is launched.
One of the MPs that submitted a letter of no-confidence is prominent and influential Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg. Although he was a one-time ally of Theresa May, he told CNBC on Tuesday that now it is May’s “duty” to resign.
“Normally when a prime minister loses her main policy she resigns, that is the main constitutional convention, they don’t just carry on regardless … The prime minister only holds office as long as she maintains the confidence of the House of Commons (the lower house of the U.K.’s parliament),” he said, adding:
“I think (on Monday when she announced the parliamentary vote would be delayed) the prime minister lost that and ought to resign.”
May made a whistle-stop tour of Europe on Tuesday, meeting with the leaders of Germany and the Netherlands and the presidents of the European Council and European Commission, Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker. May is due to meet Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Wednesday.
May might be trying to find friends in Europe willing to help her get tweaks to her moribund Brexit deal but whether she will secure any concessions is uncertain. “There is no room whatsoever” to re-negotiate the Brexit deal, the European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker told the European Parliament on Tuesday. Sterling is hovering around a 20-month low against the dollar Wednesday.
May went on the charm offensive on the continent Tuesday after pulling the plug on a parliamentary vote due on Tuesday on the Brexit deal (known as the ‘withdrawal agreement’) struck with Europe.
The deal had faced stiff opposition from many members of parliament (MPs) from both the pro-Brexit and ‘Remainer’ camp, from her own Conservative party and other opposition parties.
Her decision to delay the parliamentary vote – known as a “meaningful vote” on the deal and designed to give MPs a say on the withdrawal agreement – was made as it became clear the Brexit deal, in its current form, would not be approved by a majority in parliament.
For most MPs, the main bone of contention is what’s known as the Northern Irish “backstop.”
When the U.K. leaves the EU in March 2019 a 21-month transition period begins in which it’s hoped that U.K. and EU can strike a trade deal. If this does not happen (although the transition period could be extended) the backstop will kick in, ensuring there is no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The backstop is controversial as the measure is seen as indefinite and would mean the Northern Ireland remains largely aligned to the EU., an unpalatable prospect for many in the U.K.
May said she would try to renegotiate parts of the deal and now a new vote will have to be held before January 21 2019, leaving little time for future amendments and raising the prospect of a no-deal Brexit – the “cliff-edge” scenario that most people want to avoid.
May said the backstop had been at the crux of discussions in Europe on Tuesday. She also said that preparations for a no-deal.
“I have been here in Europe dealing with the issue which I promised parliament I would be dealing with, which is the backstop in Northern Ireland and the backstop for Northern Ireland which is in withdrawal agreement,” May said, adding: “We have already stepped up the no deal preparations, that has been happening in recent days.”
