Embattled British PM May faces confidence vote
The minority government of British Prime Minister Theresa May is facing a vote of confidence today, three weeks after the Conservative leader’s election gamble backfired.
British MPs will vote on Thursday on the prime minister's legislative plans -- the Queen's Speech – after a week of debate.
With the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), May is likely to win the votes, but in case somehow she fails her authority will be further challenged.
Voting on the Queen's Speech determines whether a government commands the confidence of the House of Commons or not. If the Conservatives failed to gain the vote of confidence, it could trigger another general election.
May had called for a snap election in April in hopes of getting an increased parliamentary majority that could have strengthened her position before going into two years of intense negotiations with the European Union about Britain’s departure from the bloc.
However, British voters dealt her a devastating blow, wiping out her parliamentary majority and throwing the country into political turmoil.
Conservatives won 318 seats in the 650-member House of Commons followed by the main opposition Labour Party which clinched 262 seats. May’s party eight seats short of the 326 it needed for an outright majority and fairly down from the 330 seats it had before the election.
May saved herself by forming a coalition government with the DUP, which won 10 seats. The DUP's all 10 MPs backed the Conservatives in Wednesday's pay vote.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday May's Brexit plans are "in tatters" after her party lost their House of Commons majority. “The Conservative program is in tatters following the public verdict at the general election.
Corbyn said May did not have a mandate for Brexit negotiations.
“Theresa May does not have a mandate for continued cuts to our schools, hospitals, police and other vital public services or for a race-to-the-bottom Brexit,” he said, adding, “Labour will fight these policies every step of the way.”
“Labour won support in every region and nation of Britain for our jobs-first Brexit approach and our policies that would transfer wealth, power and opportunity to the many from the few,” he continued.
Corbyn has vowed to "try to force an early general election.”
In an interview last week, the Labour leader said it was “ludicrous” to suggest May could stay in power and that his party "will challenge this government at every step and try to force an early general election."
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