LIVING DEAD
Zombie Theresa May stumbles through confidence vote – but how long until she finally falls?
THERESA May will limp on in No10 after winning the confidence vote despite a THIRD of her own MPs wanting to sack her.
The PM secured the support of 200 Tory MPs, enough to stay in post, but with 117 calling for her to go, her time in charge seems to be running out.
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Today she will fly to Brussels to beg the EU to secure a legally binding tweak to the withdrawal agreement to persuade her MPs to back her Brexit deal.
Yesterday Mrs May admitted she'd endured a "long and challenging day" and pledged to listen to the rebels who voted against her.
Less than two-thirds of MPs - 63 per cent - voted to keep Mrs May in power, fewer than expected by many observers.
The uncomfortably close result suggests it will be extremely tricky for her to get any Brexit deal signed off in the coming weeks.
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Speaking in Downing Street last night, she said: "This has been a long and challenging day but at the end I am pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight’s ballot.
"While I am grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues have cast their votes against me and I have listened to what they have said.
"We now need to get on with the job of getting on with delivering Brexit for the British people and building a better future for this country."
Mrs May insisted she would be able to fix her botched Brexit deal in talks with European leaders at a summit today, saying: "I have heard what the House of Commons said about the backstop.
"When I go to the European Council in Brussels tomorrow, I will be seeking legal and political assurances that will assuage the concerns that members of parliament have."
Top Brexiteers including Jacob Rees-Mogg called for her to resign immediately over the "terrible result" while Labour claimed she had been fatally wounded.
Rebel Tories called on the Cabinet to push Mrs May out by lining up to tell her she's lost her authority.
The PM has already pledged to step down before the next election in 2022 - a vow she made last night in a bid to win over more support.
Theresa May wins no confidence vote by just 83 votes
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Mr Rees-Mogg said last night: "It's a terrible result for the Prime Minister.
"She clearly doesn’t have the confidence of the House of Commons. She should make way for someone who does.
"The urgency of having a new leader is not reduced by today, it's increased."
Owen Paterson tweeted: "V poor result for PM - setting aside the Payroll, she has secured well under half of the Backbench vote. She must now listen to those of us concerned that she is failing to deliver our clear Manifesto pledges to leave Single Market, Customs Union and remit of ECJ."
A source from the pro-Brexit European Research Group said: "The parliamentary arithmetic remains unchanged. We cannot and will not support the disastrous withdrawal agreement the Prime Minister has negotiated.
"We urge her to bring it back to Parliament without delay so that the view of the House of Commons can clearly be demonstrated, and we can move on to a viable policy instead."
Ex-leader Iain Duncan Smith confirmed he voted to kick Mrs May out and added: "She has got to listen to those who voted leave and are deeply unhappy with her."
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But some Brexiteers insisted they would respect the result of the vote and support the PM.
Crispin Blunt, who put in a letter calling for a no-confidence vote, said: "The leadership question is now behind us for a year and we must get behind Theresa May in delivering Brexit."
Labour's John McDonnell blasted: "Shocking result for Theresa May. Even having offered to go before the next general election she still has a huge 117 Tory MPs, a third of her party, voting against her and not having confidence in her. Wow."
Theresa May confirms she will not lead the Conservative Party into the next General Election in 2022
Deputy leader Tom Watson added: "After 40 years tearing itself apart over Europe, tonight's vote shows the Tory party is finally and irrevocably split in two.
"It is incapable of agreeing a Brexit deal and unfit to govern. There is no pathway back. We need an election."
Allies of Mrs May insisted the result was enough to keep her in power - Jeremy Hunt said: "Huge congrats to @theresa_may whose stamina, resilience and decency has again won the day and given her the chance to deliver Brexit for our country."
Philip Hammond added: "Now is the time to focus on the future. Her deal means we will honour the referendum result while safeguarding jobs and maintaining business confidence."
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Brexiteer Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt urged the PM to put rocket boosters under No Deal plans.
She said: "Now let’s crack on with getting the changes we need to the deal on offer and press on with No Deal preparations. We are leaving the EU in 15 weeks."
Addressing the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs shortly before the polls opened at 6pm, Mrs May insisted it would be wrong to change leader in the middle of the Brexit process.
But she added: "In my heart I would like to lead the party into the next election, but I accept that won’t happen."
That suggests she will step aside within two years at the most - with the next election scheduled to take place in June 2022.
The gambit was designed to win over MPs who want to avoid short-term turbulence but are worried about the prospect of Mrs May leading the party into another election after last year's disaster.
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Some ministers were reportedly in tears after the PM's announcement.
Mrs May refused to put an exact date on when she will stand down despite calls for her to go next summer, after Britain formally leaves the EU.
She added that she had wanted to fight another General Election to "make up for" how badly last year's snap poll went.
The PM also insisted her botched Brexit deal can be saved, and promised to win the support of the DUP by changing the "Irish backstop".
Tory vice-chairman James Cleverly told reporters: "She said this would be a very, very bad time to change leader. She made it clear there’s a job to be done.”
Treasury Secretary Liz Truss added: "She said what she needed to say on the DUP and not fighting the next election - I think that was critical. She listened to what people had to say.
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How Theresa May could lose her job anyway - even after winning tonight's vote
THERESA May has won last night's vote with 200 MPs getting behind her.
But her margin was far slimmer than expected, with a whopping 117 saying they don't have confidence in her leadership.
Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns told talkRADIO: "If she wins by one and wants to continue that’s ridiculous. It’s time to go."
In 1990, Margaret Thatcher won a narrow majority of MPs on a leadership ballot but resigned shortly afterwards.
She will still face pressure on her Brexit deal, knowing that she's still not got the numbers to get it through the Commons.
And Brexiteers who dislike her and the direction she's leading the country are unlikely to stop pressuring her to go.
"She was very clear she would be working with the DUP on those changes - unless they are satisfactory she is not going to come back with a new deal or addendum. That was good.
"She understands that people want something different for the next election but that’s not what we’re deciding tonight."
As she walked in to the committee room where the MPs' meeting was held, Mrs May was greeted with loud banging of desks in a show of support.
Yesterday Mrs May faced MPs for what could have been her last ever session of Prime Minister's Questions - with her husband Philip watching from the public gallery in a show of solidarity.
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She pledged to continue her efforts to fix the hated backstop in a bid to force her Brexit deal through the House of Commons.
And when Jeremy Corbyn called on her to resign, Mrs May vowed to fight on to avoid the chaos which a Labour government would bring to Britain.
She blasted: "All he wants to do is create chaos in our economy, damage, division in our society and damage to our economy. That's Labour, that's Corbyn.
"The biggest threat to the people of this country isn't leaving the EU - it's a Corbyn government."
She added: "A General Election at this time would not be in the national interest in the middle of negotiations."
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The leadership contest was triggered after rebellious Tories stepped up their campaign against Mrs May while she was touring Europe - in an echo of the plot against Margaret Thatcher in 1990.
Cabinet ministers scrambled to support the PM as Brexiteers called for colleagues to vote against her.
Jeremy Hunt and Sajid Javid, who are likely to be frontrunners to replace Mrs May if she was toppled, both pledged their support for the Prime Minister along with other senior ministers including Philip Hammond, Michael Gove and Amber Rudd.
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