Theresa May no-confidence vote - LIVE: Tory bid to dethrone PM fails yet Jacob Rees Mogg and hard-Brexit allies renew calls for her resignation

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Theresa May wins vote of no confidence by 200 to 117

Theresa May has won a vote of no confidence as the prime minister dashed the hopes of Brexiteer MPs to topple her.

Ms May was backed by 200 Tory MPs compared to 117 rebels who hoped to oust her, following the most dramatic 24 hours yet of the Brexit saga.

A secret ballot started at 6pm after the prime minister addressed the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbenchers, telling them she will not lead the party into the 2022 election.

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Key Points

• Theresa May survives Tory no-confidence bid - but 117 MPs vote against her
• Tories restore whip to suspended sex text MP hours before no confidence vote
• Which Tory MPs are saying they were going to vote against Theresa May in secret ballot?
• Everything you need to know about a vote of no confidence

[12 December 2018 12:27 · Ashley Cowburn]

Ken Clarke - the former chancellor - asks the PM whether she can think of anything more unhelpful or irrelevant for the party to focus on a leadership election. A very helpful intervention for Theresa May. 

She says he has raised an important issue, and that a new leader would have to delay or rescind the Article 50 process. 

[12 December 2018 12:32 · Ashley Cowburn]

Here is the international trade secretary Liam Fox - speaking before PMQs - saying he is not sure whether cabinet will agree to the deal to be put to the House without changes.

[12 December 2018 12:39 · Ashley Cowburn]

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford called on the prime minister to resign - a feature of his question most weeks at prime minister's questions.

He said: "That is contemptuous of Parliament. Parliament voted for a meaningful vote, we should be having the vote and it should be happening next week. This government is a farce, the Tory party is in chaos, the PM is a disgrace with her actions.

"The reality is that people across Scotland and the UK are seeing this today. Prime Minister take responsibility, do the right thing, resign."

Mrs May replied: "He makes the remarks he does about deferring the vote, but of course it is precisely because I have listened and colleagues in government have listened to the views of people across this House, that we are pursing this issue further with the EU, that is being respectful of the views that have been raised in this House."

[12 December 2018 12:46 · Ashley Cowburn]

[12 December 2018 13:00 · Ashley Cowburn]

‪Downing Street has raised the prospect of Theresa May resigning before the next election, apparently as a way to win tonight’s vote of no confidence, writes political editor Joe Watts.

The prime minister's spokesman - speaking after PMQs - said she “doesn’t believe the vote today is about who leads the party to the next election.‬

‪“It’s about whether it’s sensible to change leader at this point in [Brexit] negotiations.”

[12 December 2018 13:20 · Ashley Cowburn]

The Downing Street source said that Mrs May was informed by Sir Graham Brady that the 48-letter threshold had been crossed in a telephone call some time before 11pm on Tuesday.

She had returned to 10 Downing Street at around 9.30pm after a day of travel which took her to The Hague, Berlin and Brussels for talks with EU leaders.

Asked how she was dealing personally with the challenge to her position, the source said: "A lot of people have talked about her resilience in different situations and I think we have seen that again today.

"As ever, she is determined and focused."

[12 December 2018 13:35 · Lizzy Buchan]

My colleague Ben Kentish is keeping a rolling tally of what MPs are saying about the crunch leadership vote tonight. He puts the number at 120 MPs declaring they will support her - and she needs 158 to win.

Important - The ballot is secret. Therefore any of these MPs could be lying about their intentions or they could change their minds later without fear of repercussions.

[12 December 2018 13:47 · Lizzy Buchan]

[12 December 2018 14:03 · Lizzy Buchan]

Environment secretary Michael Gove is doing the rounds at College Green, where TV cameras tend to broadcast outside parliament. In chaotic scenes, he ends up being chased by a Remain campaigner dressed as Father Christmas.

[12 December 2018 14:13 · Lizzy Buchan]

Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd has told Sky News she is encouraging her colleagues to stand by the PM.

With remarkable understatement, she says there have been "divisions in the Conservative party" over the Brexit deal. 

"Some of my colleagues who don't simply like the withdrawal agreement have decided to roll the dice again and find somebody else and I think it is a mistake."

Asked if May should have pulled the vote, she says no one knows how much the party would lose it by.