UK PM Theresa May confirms she will quit before 2022 election

In an attempt to garner votes of more MPs in the vote of no-confidence, May had told them she would not lead the party into the next general election.

IMAGE: Theresa May/AFP

New Delhi: A day after winning a crucial vote of confidence, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that she will quit before next UK election scheduled for 2022. On Wednesday, May in leadership won a vote of confidence with 200 votes in her favour as against the 117 votes cast in her opposition, out of a total of 317 of her Conservative Party MPs. May is facing criticism from her party members, who are opposing the terms of the Brexit withdrawal agreement as agreed upon by the EU. The vote had been triggered earlier in the day after the required 48 MPs from her Tory party filed letters of no-confidence with the influential 1922 Committee. "Whilst I am grateful for the support, a significant number of my colleagues did cast a vote against me and I have listened to what they have said," May said in a statement outside Downing Street soon after the results were declared. The 200 to 117 vote means that the Parliamentary Party does have confidence in Theresa May as leader of the Conservative Party. Under the party’s rules, after the vote, May’s leadership cannot be challenged for at least a year now. In an earlier meeting, in an attempt to garner votes of more MPs May had told them she would not lead the party into the next general election, meaning the battle to become her successor will be well underway. "She was very clear that she won't be taking the General Election in 2022," said UK work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd. May needed to convince a majority of her party MPs and a minimum of 159 votes to win the contest. The plea seemed to have paid off in the end as she survived the vote, turning the attention back to securing a Brexit deal that is acceptable to all sides of her deeply divided party as well as a fractured Parliament. Had she lost, the party would have had to elect a new leader who would then go on to become the next British prime minister. May would not have been able to stand for such a leadership contest but would have to remain in Downing Street as caretaker PM while the process to select a new leader was conducted. Some possible frontrunners named in the UK media included former UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson, current foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, home secretary Sajid Javid and Rudd. But there did not seem to be a candidate with consensus across the pro and anti Brexit wings within the Tory party. (inputs from PTI)