British Prime Minister Theresa May has survived a vote of confidence triggered by MPs of her ruling Conservative Party.
A majority of the Conservatives’ 317 MPs 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. Two members who were under party suspension for alleged misconduct prior to Wednesday were permitted to vote in the ballot.
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Had a majority voted against her, May would have been forced to resign as party leader and would have been expected to stand down as prime minister.
Wednesday’s ballot was announced after more than 15 percent of Conservative MPs wrote to the party’s backbench parliamentary committee demanding a say on May’s leadership of the party, breaching a required threshold and activating the poll.
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No new vote of confidence can be brought forward for 12 months.
On Monday, May pulled a parliamentary vote on her widely maligned Brexit deal with the EU, acknowledging it would have been defeated by members of the Commons.
Source: aljazeera.com