LONDON (AP) — The Latest on political turmoil in Britain (all times local):
LONDON (AP) — The Latest on political turmoil in Britain (all times local):
9:00 p.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has won a confidence vote by Conservative Party lawmakers that could have brought her leadership to an abrupt end.
In secret ballot on Wednesday, 200 lawmakers backed May and 117 voted against her.
The result means May can keep her positions as party leader and prime minister while continuing an uphill battle to win parliamentary approval for her Brexit plan.
Her victory means fellow Conservatives cannot challenge her for another year.
May could still face a challenge in Parliament if the opposition Labour Party seeks a confidence vote in the House of Commons over the EU divorce plan.
She plans to lobby European Union leaders for changes to the proposed divorce deal, which is unpopular with many lawmakers.
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8:15 p.m.
British lawmakers have finished voting in the Conservative Party challenge of Prime Minister Theresa May’s leadership.
Three black metal boxes were taken to a room for counting after Conservative lawmakers spent two hours voting on Wednesday.
The more than 300 paper ballots they cast are being counted by hand. The tally is expected to be announced later tonight.
May needs a majority vote to hold onto her position as prime minister and Conservative Party leader. If she is defeated, she will have to resign although she will remain as a caretaker prime minister until a new Conservative leader is chosen.
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6:10 p.m.
A British government minister says Prime Minister Theresa May has told restive lawmakers she will step down as the Conservative Party’s leader before the next national election, due in 2022.
May addressed party backbenchers in private ahead of a no-confidence vote on her leadership taking place Wednesday evening.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland says May told them, “In my heart I would like to lead the party into the next election.”
Buckland called the statement “the introductory phrase to her indication that she would accept the fact that would not happen, that is not her intention.”
A promise to make way for a new Conservative leader would be a way to win over wavering lawmakers ahead of the vote that could end her leadership.
May has not said what she will do if, as many expect, Britain’s Brexit crisis triggers an early election.
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5:35 p.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May is speaking to dozens of Conservative lawmakers, less than half an hour before a no-confidence vote among them that will decide her fate.
May was greeted by table banging as she entered a room in the House of Commons to address backbenchers.
That is a customary sign of approval, but May faces a tough crowd that includes rivals such as former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and ex-Brexit Secretary David Davis.
Both are among critics of May’s Brexit deal with the European Union.
Tory Brexiteers are hoping to topple May in Wednesday evening’s vote. She is making a last-minute appeal, saying ditching her now would plunge the country into even more uncertainty.
