In the vote, which had been filed by the Conservative members of the London Parliament in dissatisfaction with May’s implementation of Brexit, voted 200 parliamentarians for and 117 against Theresa May.
The vote for Theresa May takes place in the context of a longstanding public and intra-party debate about the course that the Prime Minister is taking at Brexit. Their critics have played their trump card with the motion of censure, because according to the internal party rules, it is now impossible to challenge the claim to leadership of May in the coming twelve months.
On Monday, the vote on the Brexit deal negotiated by Theresa May with the EU had been taken off the agenda of the British Parliament in the short term. It had been assumed that May’s proposals had not found the required majority. The following day, May traveled to the continent to discuss with European leaders the issue of the EU-UK border separating Northern Ireland from the EU member Republic of Ireland in the south of the island.
But even before their trip, the European government leaders had made it clear that there would be no far-reaching changes to the adopted Brexit package, which condemned May’s endeavor to failure. The Labor Party had warned May not to return to Britain with empty hands and threatened with a motion of censure in parliament. Even within her own party, the displeasure over May’s approach was great. Thus, the conservative backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke of a „ruinous and unworthy day for the government“.
On Wednesday morning, Sir Graham Brady, chairman of an influential group of conservative backbenchers in parliament, announced that he had received enough applications from the conservative faction to reach a quota of 15 percent, from which the party leader could be asked the vote of confidence.
May responded with reluctance to this message and made it clear that she wanted to „pull through the Brexit thing“ and the desired vote only „causes further divisions.“ A change in the management team at this point would inevitably lead to a postponement of the end of March 2019 scheduled EU exit from the United Kingdom.
On the day of the vote of confidence, the conflict within the Conservative Party was held in public when MP Andrew Bridgen left a live interview with the BBC when his counterpart James Cleverly entered the scene.
At the crucial moment, however, a majority of Conservative MPs lacked resolve to remove May. Faced with a clear choice between the sentences on the ballot „I Trust Theresa May as Party Leader“ and „I Do not Trust Theresa May as Party Leader,“ decided the deputies for the continuance of the party leadership, Theresa May had taken over after the resignation of David Cameron as a result of Brexit.
It was a bitter irony that by the time the Conservative Assemblies had come to a vote in Westminster, the Christmas party at the Conservative Party headquarters was being celebrated at the other end of the city.
Although May has survived the vote of confidence within her party, her problems are by no means resolved. She still needs the support of her party to bring the Brexit deal she negotiated through the British parliament. This deal is being rejected by so many Conservative MPs that the Labor Party may be meeting with other parties in parliament, including the Scottish National Party, to bring a motion of censure against the government. Should this be successful, new elections could be the result, which would finally ruin May’s plans.
