The no-confidence vote for the Conservative leadership and the position of UK Prime Minister is set to take place between 6pm and 8pm this evening, with a result at around 9pm.
If Theresa May loses the vote she will not be able to stand for the leadership contest that follows.
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Leadership candidates need nominations from two Tory MPs to stand in the contest.
They will be voted down to two contenders in a series of votes by the Tory MPs, and the opposing pair will then face a postal ballot from all Conservative party members.
Theresa May replacement: The bookie’s favourites for next UK Prime Minister
This morning, oddschecker.com listed:
Boris Johnson, with odds of 5/1
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By GlobalDataJeremy Corbyn, odds of 6/1
Dominic Raab, at 6/1
Sajid Javid, at 7/1
Michael Gove, at 10/1 as the top five candidates that could replace Theresa May.
Who are they and what are the chances of Brexit still happening?
Boris Johnson
Conservative MP, former Foreign Minister and former Mayor of London. Boris is a controversial figure in media and politics, writing a column for The Telegraph and campaigning to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum of 2016.
He wrote a column in August 2018 that appeared to mock Muslim dress, but which discussed freedom of expression.
Boris quit the UK Cabinet as Foreign Minister in July 2018, saying that May’s plan agreed at her Chequer’s residence, and known as a soft Brexit plan called the Chequer’s deal, which the EU did not agree to, meant that the UK was headed “for the status of a colony”.
He said he could not “in all conscience champion these proposals”.
The criticisms he has launched since then about the Brexit deal, in its various formations, follow the same thread.
He is committed to a hard Brexit and believed May could not provide this.
Under his leadership, we could expect Brexit to continue and be taken up with fervour.
Jeremy Corbyn
The leader of the opposition party, Labour, to Theresa May’s Conservatives, Jeremy Corbyn voted to remain in the EU but has been widely described as a Eurosceptic.
A general election would be needed before the Labour party could stand for the premiership of the UK.
Corbyn could force a general election by lodging a vote of no-confidence in the UK Government, currently headed up by Theresa May and the Conservatives.
The BBC reported a Labour spokesperson as saying the party was waiting for the opportunity to lodge the no-confidence motion when it was most likely to be successful.
Corbyn and the Labour party have not ruled out a second referendum on Brexit like Theresa May has, so there is a possibility of the UK having another say on whether they still want Brexit and under which terms.
Dominic Raab
The former Brexit Secretary quit the UK Prime Minister’s Cabinet in November 2018 over the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement that was set to be voted on in Parliament yesterday and which Theresa May cancelled.
In his resignation letter, he said: “I cannot support the indefinite backstop arrangement, where the EU holds a veto over our ability to exit.”
And added: “I cannot reconcile the terms of the proposed deal with the promises we made to the country in our manifesto at the last election. This is, at its heart, a matter of public trust.”
As a Brexiter, Brexit is likely to continue under Dominic Raab’s leadership.
Sajid Javid
Home Secretary Sajid Javid replaced Amber Rudd after the Windrush scandal in April 2018.
This morning he tweeted that “The last thing our country needs right now is a Conservative Party leadership election. Will be seen as self-indulgent and wrong. PM has my full support and is the best person to ensure we leave EU on 29 March.”
He voted to remain in the referendum but has since been described as a ‘believer’.
Michael Gove
There was intense speculation that Gove would quit the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in November 2018, as part of a move to take over the government.
There was also speculation that he was offered the role of Brexit Secretary after Dominic Raab quit the post.
He said this morning: “I am backing the Prime Minister 100% – and I urge every Conservative MP to do the same. She is battling hard for our country and no one is better placed to ensure we deliver on the British people’s decision to leave the EU.”
Gove was a co-convener of the official Vote Leave Campaign Committee on the Brexit referendum.
He wrote in The Telegraph: “I believe our country would be freer, fairer and better off outside the EU.”
Under Gove, the UK could expect Brexit to push on, perhaps under a renegotiated agreement that demanded stronger terms of exit from the EU.
