Members of the Conservative Party have “privately” warned they could attempt to force PM May out of office if the government is defeated in a parliamentary vote today, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
The vote could see parliament granted the power to reject a deal proposed by May’s government and force negotiators back to the negotiating table with the EU.
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“As parliament gradually assumes a bigger role in the process, the debates have made a ‘no deal’ exit next March less likely and a softer Brexit more likely,” Eurasia Group Managing Director Mujtaba Rahman said in a note.
“As a result, a leadership challenge to Theresa May has also become more likely, because hardline Brexiteers fear they are being outmaneuvered by the prime minister who tiptoes towards a package acceptable to the soft Brexit majority in parliament,” he added.
PM May will be reliant on votes from Labour and other opposition parties, as her government only narrowly possesses a minority in the House of Commons, via a controversial deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and it’s already clear that not all Tory MPs will be backing her.
The Tory Party’s pro-EU faction, headed by ex-Attorney General Dominic Grieve, coupled with votes from May’s other political opponents, pose a dangerous threat to May in today’s crunch vote.
It remains difficult to gauge the likelihood of a hard Brexit, but with EU-UK negotiations so far failing to yield a compromised solution regarding on Britain’s post-Brexit trading relationship with the union, and neither side seemingly willing to back down, the prospect of the UK exiting the EU without a deal in place cannot be ruled out.
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