Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU Withdrawal Agreement was defeated by 432 votes to 202, the largest government defeat in modern history. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told the House of Commons Mrs May's "catastrophic" defeat represented an "absolutely decisive" verdict on her Brexit negotiations and has tabled a vote of confidence. He added the vote would enable the Commons to "give its verdict on the sheer incompetence of this government". The motion will be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow.

What is a no confidence vote? Will Theresa May QUIT? A vote of no confidence is a way for an opposition party to try to overthrow the government. It works by MPs voting on a motion asking whether they have “confidence” or “no confidence” in the Government. The motion must be tabled by the Leader of the Opposition, who in this case is Jeremy Corbyn.

If the motion is backed, it starts a countdown of exactly 14 days in which the government must win the support of MPs in a second vote. If they fail to do this then Parliament is dissolved and a general election is triggered. Since the Fixed Term Parliament Acts 2011 was introduced, a motion of no confidence is one of only two ways in which an early general election can now be triggered. Mrs May has vowed to fight on and insisted her deal was “the best way to deliver the will of the British people”.

Will Theresa May win a vote of no confidence? The outcome is not certain but the bookies believe Theresa May can survive. Theresa May has odds of 1-50 to win the no-confidence vote, according to Coral, but she is on odds of 1-2 to be replaced as Prime Minister in 2019. Coral’s John Hill said: “Theresa May is long odds-on to win the no confidence vote tomorrow, however, the betting suggests her survival will be short-lived as punters continue to bet on her to leave her position before the end of the year.” </s> Conservative Party MPs in Britain began two hours of voting Wednesday on a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Theresa May, initiated by anti-EU lawmakers opposed to her Brexit plan.

The British leader, who earlier vowed to fight "with everything I've got", needs a majority of her MPs -- 159 -- to back her in the vote to remain in Downing Street. The result is expected around 9:00 pm (2100 GMT). </s> Theresa May's government has tonight survived a vote of no confidence.

MPs voted 325 to 306 in favour of allowing the Prime Minister's administration to remain in power, despite the Brexit turmoil.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled the motion last night after MPs voted 432 to 202 against Mrs May's EU Withdrawal Agreement.

During a six-hour debate today in the Commons, Mr Corbyn argued that Mrs May's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern.

But the outcome of tonight's vote means Mrs May and her cabinet can now continue Brexit negotiations with the EU.

The UK is due to leave the EU on March 29. </s> Update - 10.14pm: Theresa May has made a statement in Downing Street following her survival of no confidence vote earlier this evening.

Speaking in Downing Street, the Prime Minister said: “This evening the Government has won the confidence of Parliament.

Prime Minister Theresa May speaking outside 10 Downing Street in London after MPs rejected Labour's motion of no confidence by 325 votes to 306. Photo credit: Yui Mok/PA Wire.

“Overwhelmingly, the British people want us to get on with delivering Brexit.

“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.”

“In a historic vote in 2016 the country decided to leave the EU. In 2017, 80% of people voted for parties that stood on manifestos promising to respect that result.

“Now, over two and a half years later, it’s time for us to come together, put the national interest first and deliver on the referendum.”

Mrs May attempted to put pressure on Jeremy Corbyn in her statement.

She said she had held “constructive” meetings with Mr Cable, Mr Blackford and Ms Saville-Roberts and would meet MPs including the DUP on Thursday.

She added: “I am disappointed that the leader of the Labour Party has not so far chosen to take part, but our door remains open.”

Update - 9.22pm: Theresa May is to make a statement in Downing Street at 10pm, following her survival of no confidence vote earlier this evening, a Number 10 spokeswoman has confirmed.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman also said she would meet with eurosceptic MPs in her own party, who accepted an invitation, on Thursday.

Theresa May during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons this evening. Picture: UK Parliament/Mark Duffy

Earlier - 'British public must have final say': Mayor of London as Theresa May survives no confidence vote

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said he is "deeply disappointed" about the outcome of this evening's no confidence vote in Theresa May.

The Britsh House of Commons narrowly voted against a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Theresa May by 325 votes to 306.

Following the result of the vote, Sadiq Khan tweeted:

“Deeply disappointed that Conservative MPs have put political interest above the national interest tonight.

“The Govt needs to withdraw Article 50 immediately. If we cannot have a general election – the British public must have the final say – with the option to stay in the EU.”

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, raising a point of order after the vote, said: “Last night the House rejected the Government’s deal emphatically.

“Before there can be any positive discussions about the way forward, the Government must remove clearly once and for all the prospect of the catastrophe of a no-deal Brexit from the EU and all the chaos that would come as a result of that.”

DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the result of the vote “shows the importance” of his party’s confidence and supply agreement with the Conservatives.

“DUP votes once again make the difference,” he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Dodds said the “result of the motion of no confidence illustrates the importance of the confidence and supply arrangement that is currently in place” between his party and Theresa May’s Conservatives.

He said: “I’m always delighted when our opponents illustrate the strength of that relationship that we have, and what is delivering for Northern Ireland.

A number of Labour MPs then held their hands in the air and rubbed their fingers together, in reference to the extra investment promised to Northern Ireland in exchange for the support of Mr Dodds’ party’s 10 MPs.

He said the agreement was “built on delivering Brexit”, adding that he is looking forward to “working in the coming days to achieve that objective”.

Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas called on Jeremy Corbyn to hold a second referendum after his confidence motion failed.

In a clip posted to Twitter, the Brighton Pavilion MP said: “The leader of the opposition was right to try to bring down this toxic, failing Government. But now MPs have had their say on the Brexit deal, he needs to give the people a say over our future relationship with our nearest neighbours.”

Ms Lucas added that to do otherwise would be a “betrayal” of the “majority of his party’s members” and young supporters who were unable to vote in the referendum two years ago.

Theresa May’s official spokesman has since said that the Westminster leaders of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Plaid Cymru had been invited to meet Mrs May later tonight.

However, a no-deal Brexit will not be taken off the table, despite Mr Corbyn’s insistence it was a prerequisite for talks, he added.

The spokesman said: “The Prime Minister has been very clear that the British public voted to leave the European Union.

“We want to leave with a deal but she is determined to deliver on the verdict of the British public and that is to leave the EU on March 29 this year.”

Asked by a reporter if he was “taking no-deal off the table in response to the opposition leader”, he replied: “I am not.”

Earlier: Arlene Foster has said she had a "useful discussion" with Theresa May and confirmed the party will support the Prime Minister in Wednesday's confidence vote.

The DUP leader said she had indicated during a meeting in London, which was also attended by the party's Westminster leader Nigel Dodds, that her party "will act in the national interest".

She added that the issue of the backstop, the main sticking point for the DUP in Mrs May's rejected Withdrawal Agreement, "needs to be dealt with and we will continue to work to that end".

In a statement issued after the meeting, Mrs Foster said: "These are critical times for the United Kingdom and we have indicated that first and foremost we will act in the national interest.

"Lessons will need to be learned from the vote in Parliament.

"The issue of the backstop needs to be dealt with and we will continue to work to that end."

She confirmed the party will vote in support of the Government "so that we can concentrate on the real challenges ahead of us".

There will be "further engagements in the coming days", she added.

Earlier Mrs Foster said she would urge the Prime Minister to go back to Europe and seek a better deal, and called on the Irish Government to help find solutions to Brexit.

She also claimed there had never been a hard border on the island of Ireland.

She told Northern Ireland-based U105 radio: "For those of us who lived on the border and who were attacked by the IRA, we know that the IRA escaped across that border so it was not a hard border, nobody wants to go back to that.

"I hope that they are now, I hope that our Prime Minister uses that vote last night to go to Europe and to look for a better deal."

The DUP's 10 MPs voted against Theresa May's draft EU Withdrawal Agreement on Tuesday.

The opposition had focused on the backstop, an insurance policy to avoid a hard Irish border after Brexit. </s> British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament on Wednesday to remain in office — but saw more of her power ebb away as she battled to keep Brexit on track after lawmakers demolished her European Union divorce deal.

May won a narrow victory, 325 votes to 306 votes, on an opposition motion seeking to topple her government and trigger a general election.

Now it’s back to Brexit, where May is caught between the rock of her own negotiating red lines and the hard place of a Parliament that wants to force a radical change of course.

After winning the vote, May said she would hold talks “in a constructive spirit” with leaders of opposition parties and other lawmakers, starting immediately, in a bid to find a way forward for Britain’s EU exit.

Legislators ripped up May’s Brexit blueprint Tuesday by rejecting the divorce agreement she has negotiated with the EU over the last two years. That it would lose was widely expected, but the scale of the rout — 432 votes to 202, the biggest defeat government defeat in British parliamentary history — was devastating for May’s leadership and her Brexit deal.

Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn responded with the no-confidence motion and urged the government to “do the right thing and resign.”

May, who leads a fractious government, a divided Parliament and a gridlocked Brexit process, said she was staying put. May said an election “would deepen division when we need unity, it would bring chaos when we need certainty, and it would bring delay when we need to move forward.”

The government survived Wednesday’s vote with support from May’s Conservative Party and its Northern Irish ally, the Democratic Unionist Party. Many pro-Brexit Conservatives who voted against May’s deal backed her in the no-confidence vote to avoid an election that could bring a left-wing Labour government to power.

Had the government lost, Britain would have faced a snap election within weeks, just before the country is due to leave the European Union on March 29.

Political analyst Anand Menon, from the research group U.K. in a Changing Europe, said May has a remarkable ability to soldier on.

“The thing about Theresa May is that nothing seems to faze her,” he said. “She just keeps on going.”

May’s determination — or, as her foes see it, her inflexibility — might not be an asset in a situation calling for a change of course. The prime minister has until Monday to come up with a new Brexit plan.

May promised to speak to lawmakers from across the political spectrum. But she also said any new Brexit plan must “deliver on the referendum result,” which May has long interpreted to mean ending the free movement of workers to Britain from the EU and leaving the EU’s single market and customs union. </s> Theresa May has survived the vote of no confidence against her.

The result, announced in the last couple of minutes, was 200 in her favour, to 117 against. </s> LONDON (AP) — Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May faces a perilous “no-confidence” vote in Parliament Wednesday after her plan to withdraw from the European Union suffered the biggest defeat for a government in the House of Commons in modern history.

The challenge to May’s authority, also known as a censure motion, was put forward by the leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, whose goal is to trigger a new election that might bring his leftwing party to power.

May needs a majority of lawmakers to back her Wednesday evening to avoid the prospect of a fresh general election that might sweep away her Conservative Party, which is already in a precarious minority position.

If she wins a majority in Parliament, she is judged to have the confidence of the House of Commons and the measure dies. That seems the most likely outcome, given the explicit backing May has received from the Democratic Unionists, a small Northern Ireland party that has propped up her government.

But if she loses, it means legislators have decided that “this House has no confidence in Her Majesty’s Government.”

If that happens, May’s government would have 14 days to try to win back the support of a majority in Parliament to maintain power. At the same time, Corbyn could try to form a majority and take power, although that is unlikely given that the DUP in Northern Ireland has no affinity with Labour.

If no party successfully gains a majority, an early general election would be triggered. An election normally takes five to six weeks, and May would remain in office as a caretaker prime minister during the campaign.

The no-confidence vote on May’s government is completely different from the no-confidence vote she faced in December, when members of her own Conservative Party challenged her role as party leader. She survived that vote unscathed.

The rules governing the no-confidence vote in the government were changed when the Fixed Term Parliaments Act was enacted in 2011 to make it more difficult to bring down a government. </s> Theresa May is fighting to keep her party together after multiple senior ministers, including Dominic Raab and Esther McVey, resigned yesterday amid her proposed Brexit deal. Since the draft was presented a number of Conservative party members have handed in a letter of no confidence in Mrs May. Among Tories to hand in the letter to the chair of the 1922 Committee is Jacob Rees-Mogg, a move that could eventually lead to a Conservative party leadership challenge.

The MP brought parliament to silence when he questioned the PM on Thursday, and told her directly in the House Commons he would submit the letter. Along with Mr Rees-Mogg, at least 15 other MPs, including Peter Bone, Philip Davies, Andrea Jenkyns, Nadine Dorries, Andrew Bridgen and Simon Clarke, have also submitted no confidence letters. And speculation is now mounting Conservative MPs have the number of letters they need to trigger a vote of confidence in the prime minister, as sources are claiming 48 letters have now been submitted. But MPs who are standing firm with the prime minister have warned that a coup would destroy the government, plunge the economy into peril and halt any chance of a fair deal for Brexit altogether.

What happens in a vote of no confidence? For the Tories to be able to trigger a vote of no confidence, 15 percent of MPs would need to write letters demanding a confidence vote to the chairman of the party’s 1922 Committee, Sir Graham Brady. The Conservatives currently have 315 MPs in Government and would need 48 letters written from individual members for a vote to be called. If a confidence vote is triggered, all Conservative MPs can vote.

Should such a vote be called, the ballots will be cast as soon as possible under Conservative rules. And if Mrs May loses, a leadership contest will take place to decide her replacement. Sometimes several candidates put themselves forward, and in this case, a secret vote is held among the Tory MPs where in the first round the candidates with the fewest votes are removed. Conservative lawmakers then vote again until they have their new party leader and prime minister. </s> LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May’s government won a vote of no confidence on Wednesday, with 325 votes versus 306.

The vote means that May will now press ahead with talking to lawmakers from all parties to try to find a consensus over how to proceed with Britain’s departure from the European Union, after her proposed deal was rejected by parliament. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
By a vote of 200 to 117, British Prime Minister Theresa May survives a motion of no confidence within the Conservative Party.