Theresa May on brink of no confidence vote amid reports of 48 letters from Conservative MPs
- Theresa May is on the brink of a no confidence vote, according to multiple reports.
- Sources tell Business Insider that more than 48 Tory MPs have submitted letters of no-confidence in her - enough to trigger a formal vote on her leadership.
- Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservative Party's 1922 committee, could announce that he has received a sufficient number of letters on Wednesday.
- The prime minister enraged MPs after delaying the meaningful vote on her Brexit deal.
LONDON - Over 48 Conservative MPs have now submitted letters of no confidence in Theresa May - enough to trigger a formal no-confidence vote on her leadership - according to multiple reports on Tuesday.
Numerous MPs in the European Research Group, a pro-Brexit group of Tory MPs, told Business Insider that they believed Sir Graham Brady, chair of the party's 1922 Committee, had received over 48 letters of no confidence.
A senior MP in the ERG said that Brady had received 53 letters, five more than the 48 threshold.
The BBC and other outlets are also reporting similar. These reports are yet to be confirmed. If correct, Brady will likely make a public announcement on Wednesday, triggering yet more chaos for the government and the Brexit process.
The ERG is in increasingly open war against May and her Brexit plan, and have suggested they are close to the threshold before, only to fail to unseat her.
If 48 (or more) letters have been submitted, Conservative MPs will hold a vote of no-confidence in May. If over half of Conservative MPs vote against her, there will be a leadership election to choose her replacement.
This comes after May enraged MPs across the House of Commons by making a late decision to delay a crucial "meaningful vote" among MPs on her Brexit deal, on which she was expected to be humiliatingly defeated.
One ERG MP who had already submitted their letter said they were approached by three MPs who submitted their letters in anger at May pulling the vote on Monday. They added that two of those MPs had been "fence-sitters" who had previously been loyal to the prime minister.
The MP said that a Brexiteer Cabinet minister told them on Tuesday that May would be "gone by Friday."