British Parliament to hold vote of no confidence in government
British Parliament to hold vote of no confidence in government

British Prime Minister Theresa May is set to face another vote of no confidence after being unable to pass her Brexit withdrawal agreement in Parliament, suffering a devastating defeat in the House of Commons.

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn called her leadership into question immediately after MPs voted 432-202 against May’s Brexit bill—a defeat Corbyn labeled as “catastrophic” and which is certainly a historic loss for an incumbent government, as reported by Forbes.

“Tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what [Parliament] does support,” said May addressing MPs in the wake of the defeat. “Nothing about how—or even if—it intends to honor the decision the British people took in a referendum [that] Parliament decided to hold.”

Despite such a crushing defeat and now a confidence vote on Wednesday, May said she would launch cross-party talks to seek common ground on her Brexit withdrawal agreement and see if there is an acceptable solution to the impasse.

On Wednesday, May will also now make her pitch to Parliament why her government should remain in office, while Corbyn will call on MPs to vote to overthrow the government.

Unlike the vote of no confidence by her own party which May survived in December—which simply would have resulted in the Conservative party changing leader—if May is defeated in Wednesday’s vote of no confidence, an early general election will likely be triggered.