May wins confidence vote by 200-117
The prime minister remains as Tory leader but has announced she will step down before the next general election.
Thursday 13 December 2018 02:33, UK
Theresa May has secured her immediate future as prime minister after winning a vote of confidence among Tory MPs.
Mrs May was given the thumbs up a day after the 48-letter threshold was reached to hold a vote over her leadership.
The prime minister won by 200 votes to 117 - a majority of 83.
The result of the vote means 63% of Conservative MPs backed the prime minister, with 37% voting against her.
She is immune from another leadership challenge for 12 months and can now focus on somehow changing the parliamentary arithmetic in order to get her Brexit withdrawal agreement through a Commons vote.
Speaking before the vote, Mrs May announced she will not lead the Conservative Party into the next election in 2022.
After Sir Graham Brady, head of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, announced the result, every member of her cabinet immediately issued their congratulations and she was greeted by loud cheers from the Tory backbenches.
Speaking in Downing Street after the vote, Mrs May said: "This has been a long and challenging day, but at the end of it I'm pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot.
"Whilst I'm grateful for that support, a significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me, and I have listened to what they said.
"Following this ballot we need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit for the British people and building a better future for this country."
Not all Tory MPs were as complimentary as Mrs May's cabinet.
Tory MP Richard Drax told Sky News: "I think this is bad for the prime minister. But this is not about her personally, it's about Brexit.
"If I was the prime minister I would take advice from my advisers, and with a third of the party against her can she carry on?
"If I was her I would do the honourable thing and hand over to somebody who is 100% behind leaving the EU."
Brexiteer Conservative Peter Bone told Sky News: "She should consider overnight and decide if she wants to carry on.
"She said she would only lead the party with the support of parliament - with a third voting against. You don't have that. If she honours her word she'll decide in the interests of the party and the nation to go."
A senior Brexiteer and former minister told Sky News: "This could be the best result for us in the long run, it gives us more leverage over the PM to force her hand and get her to shift her Brexit position.
"Clearly she will just carry on, our next steps have to be to get her to change course on Brexit."
Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg called for Mrs May's resignation, saying she should do so "as soon as the Queen has a moment in her diary to see her".
The chairman of the European Research Group said the prime minister had "lost the support of her backbench".
The DUP's Westminster leader, Nigel Dodds, said his party, which is propping up Mrs May's government, would remain focused on the draft Brexit agreement and the "changes that need to be made for it to get our support".
"I don't think this vote really changes very much in terms of the arithmetic of that," he said.
"She knows what has to be done and hopefully that is what has got through."
Labour MPs used the vote to take a swipe at Mrs May, saying it changed nothing.
Jeremy Corbyn said: "Tonight's vote changes nothing.
"Theresa May has lost her majority in parliament, her government is in chaos and she's unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country and puts jobs and the economy first.
"She must now bring her botched deal back to parliament next week."
The pound reacted positively after Mrs May won the vote of confidence then wobbled slightly when the size of her majority became clear.
Overall, it was good news for sterling after a turbulent ride this week amid growing political crisis over Brexit, with sharp falls after the delayed parliamentary vote on the PM's Brexit deal.
Addressing the 1922 Committee in an impassioned speech before MPs voted, Mrs May said she was determined to deliver Brexit.
In an apparent concession to Tory MPs who do not support her, she revealed her intention to stand down before the next general election.
She recognised a lot of people were "uncomfortable" about her leading the Conservatives into another election.
However, she did not set a date for when she would step down.
Her advisers and some ministers reportedly cried as she announced the effective endpoint of her leadership.
Mrs May also took the opportunity to express her annoyance at Chancellor Philip Hammond calling European Research Group MPs "extremists".
One cabinet minister told Sky News she was "very professional, very clear and also very passionate" during her speech.
Tory MPs were heard cheering and bashing the tables inside committee room 14 as she finished her speech and they then voted.
In the queue to vote, Environment Secretary Michael Gove was heard clearly saying: "I am going to be voting for the prime minister."
Former Brexit secretary David Davis refused to say which way he had voted, as did International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt, both who are tipped as a future Tory leader.