ONE of the borough’s four MPs has survived a bid to axe her as leader of the Conservatives.
Theresa May, whose Maidenhead constituency includes parts of Woodley, Sonning, Wargrave and Twyford, faced a vote of no confidence today after at least 48 MPs wrote to the chairman of the party’s 1922 committee.
The vote of no confidence came as Mrs May, who is also the country’s Prime Minister, pulled out of a vote on the Brexit deal she had negotiated with the European Union on Monday, just days after she had spent time in her constituency visiting the Twyford Christmas Tree festival.
Mrs May had spent the day canvassing the views of her parliamentary colleagues, seeking to win enough support from them to win the vote.
Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee said that he was standing by the Prime Minister despite his stance on Brexit.
“I disagree with her current approach to delivering Brexit but the last thing the country needs is a distracting and self-indulgent Conservative Party leadership contest, which does not change anything. The PM must take her Brexit deal to the country and let the people decide,” he said earlier today.
Wokingham MP John Redwood had not revealed how he voted when this article went to press.
Mrs May recieved 200 votes in favour and 117 against.
The result of the vote ensures that Mrs May cannot be challenged as leader of the Conservatives for at least 12 months.
However, she said that she probably wouldn’t lead the party in the next General Election. Under the fixed term parliament act, this wouldn’t be until 2021. This could change if the Brexit vote leads to a stalemate or the Labour party call an all-house vote of no confidence.
Mrs May is expected to make a statement outside Downing Street shortly.
