LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May won a vote of confidence in her leadership on Wednesday, strengthening her position after the contest was called by lawmakers upset by her handling of Britains departure from the European Union.
Here is some reaction to her survival:
Pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker Jacob Rees-Mogg:
“It is a terrible result for the prime minister. It really is.
“The prime minister must realise that under all constitutional norms she ought to go and see the Queen urgently and resign.”
Mark Francois, a Conservative lawmaker who called for May to resign:
“Something has changed – what has changed is that a third of her MPs have said they dont want her to be leader.
“We will continue to fight for what we believe in.
“I wouldnt call 117 votes a busted flush.”
Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party leader:
“The prime minister has lost her majority in Parliament, her government is in chaos and she is unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country and puts jobs and the economy first.
“Thats why she pulled the vote on her botched Brexit deal this week and is trying to avoid bringing it back to parliament. Its clear that she has not been able to negotiate the necessary changes in Europe.
Damian Hinds, education minister:
“We are in the middle of a very difficult negotiation to get the right Brexit. The PM has been doing an incredible job on that with amazing determination and now, with a very clear margin of the parliamentary party behind her, we need to get on and finalise that.
“We all do need to get behind the prime minister. There has been a vote and it is a very clear vote, a very clear margin.”
Damian Green, a Conservative lawmaker and Mays former deputy prime minister
“She should now get back to the job, which she wants to do.
“I think no-deal is now less likely than it was before this vote and I think it is extremely good for this country because I think no-deal would be disastrous.
“Will this silence the Brexit hardliners? I hope so, I think a lot of this debate has been about accepting the result of a democratic vote. So I hope those who voted against the prime minister will accept the result of this democratic vote and accept that this is a decisive vote and that therefore she should now be allowed to get on with the day job.”
Reporting By Andrew MacAskill, Kylie Maclellan, William James, Elizabeth Piper; editing by Stephen Addison
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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