Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, survived a vote of no confidence at the country’s parliament on Wednesday, outlasting another threat against her Conservative government.
The vote of no confidence was tabled before the House of Commons by Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, moments after May’s Brexit deal was overwhelmingly rejected by both the opposition parties and members of the ruling Conservative Party on Tuesday.
The prime minister, however, had the backing of all members of her party, as well as members of the DUP, her coalition partners, as she secured a 325 to 306 vote, having a margin gap of 19 votes.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street hours after her parliamentary victory, May promised to deliver on the mandate of the British people to exit the European Union (EU).
“I understand that to people getting on with their lives away from Westminster, the events of the past 24 hours will have been unsettling.
“Overwhelmingly the British people want us to get on with delivering Brexit and also address the other important issues they care about.
“I believe it is my duty to deliver on the British people’s instruction to leave the European Union and I intend to do so,” she said.
May also announced that she would meet with the leaders and senior members of parliament from all parties, noting that she wanted widest possible views across parliament” before presenting a new Brexit deal before parliament on Monday.
Noting that talks between the parties have been “constructive” so far, she, however, lamented that Corbyn and the Labour Party members have refused to make them available for negotiations.
“I am disappointed that the leader of the Labour Party has not so far chosen to take part, but our door remains open,” May said.
But Corbyn has insisted that the prime minister must remove the option of a no Brexit deal from the table before his party can deliberate with her on the way forward.
“The government must remove clearly, once and for all, the prospect of the catastrophe of a no-deal exit from the EU and all the chaos that would come as a result of that,” he told lawmakers after the no-confidence vote.
