2019 motion of no confidence in the May ministry
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On 15 January 2019, a motion of no confidence in the government of Theresa May was tabled in the
British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
. On 16 January, the House rejected the motion by a vote of 325 to 306. The motion was laid by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Labour Party and
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
, after the government had lost a Commons vote to secure parliamentary backing for the government's deal for
Britain's withdrawal from the European Union Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC o ...
by 230 votes on the evening of 15 January. That vote, 432 to 202 for rejecting the deal, represented the largest defeat for a sitting government in modern history. The motion was debated on the afternoon of 16 January before it was voted on that evening. The vote went along party lines and was supported by all opposition parties and opposed by the ruling Conservatives and the
Democratic Unionist Party The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is a unionist, loyalist, and national conservative political party in Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1971 during the Troubles by Ian Paisley, who led the party for the next 37 years. Currently led by J ...
, in accordance with their
confidence and supply agreement In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house. A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
. After the result, Theresa May requested individual meetings with leaders of all parties to discuss how to continue with the process of leaving the European Union. The invitation was taken up by all leaders except Corbyn, who said he would not meet her unless she would ensure that a
no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called clean break BrexitBBC. (2019)''Brexit: Jargon-busting guide to the key terms'' (BBC) Retrieved 29 March 2019.) was the potential withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal ...
would not occur.


Background

The Conservative government elected in the
2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November  ...
was a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...
, relying on a confidence and supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party to give it a small working majority in the House of Commons. In December 2018, May had faced a vote of confidence from members of the Parliamentary Conservative Party because of opposition from eurosceptic Conservative MPs to her Brexit withdrawal agreement, which they felt would compromise British control over its borders because its inclusion of the Irish backstop proposal, a proposal that would allow for the possibility of Northern Ireland remaining within the EU Customs Union as a means to avoid a physical border with the Irish Republic after Britain's departure from the EU. However, although May won the vote comfortably with a majority of 83, plans for the House of Commons to debate the Brexit agreement in December were postponed until the new year when it became clear Parliament would reject it. On 17 December, after following May's decision to delay the vote, Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence in her premiership but not against the government. The following day, the government refused to allow time for the motion to be debated, which Speaker John Bercow confirmed that it had no obligation to do. Parliament then debated the Brexit agreement in January 2019, with the vote on whether to back May's plans taking place on 15 January. The deal was rejected by Parliament, with a majority of 230 voting against it. The result, 432-to-202 for rejecting the deal, represented the largest defeat for a sitting government in modern history. Addressing the House of Commons in the wake of the result, May said that she would welcome a vote of confidence in her government and would allow time for it to be debated the following day. Corbyn then tabled a motion of no confidence in the government in the hope of triggering an early general election.


Proceedings

Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom said that the House's afternoon session on 16 January, following the conclusion of Prime Minister's Questions, would be dedicated to the debate, with a vote expected at around 19:00. In accordance with the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, the text of the motion was "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government". In addition to Corbyn, it was co-sponsored by Ian Blackford (SNP leader at Westminster), Vince Cable (Liberal Democrat leader), Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru),
Caroline Lucas Caroline Patricia Lucas (born 9 December 1960) is a British politician who has twice led the Green Party of England and Wales and has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Pavilion since the 2010 general election. She was re-elected ...
(Greens) and Nick Brown (Labour Chief Whip) and signed by a further 38 MPs.


Division

The motion was defeated by 325 votes to 306: a majority of 19. Ten DUP MPs and the independent MP Sylvia Hermon voted with the government. All the other parties in the Commons supported Labour's motion, as did some independent MPs, including
Jared O'Mara Jared Cain O'Mara (born 15 November 1981) is a British former politician who was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency), Sheffield Hallam from 2017 United Kingdom genera ...
and
Stephen Lloyd Stephen Anthony Christopher Lloyd (born 15 June 1957) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was twice Member of Parliament (MP) for the seat of Eastbourne. Born in Kenya, he was privately educated in Surrey, before working first as a co ...
. Three independent MPs, all formerly in Labour, abstained, as did Paul Flynn (Labour), who was too ill to vote, and in fact died one month later.


Aftermath

After the result, May told Members of the House of Commons she would "continue to work to deliver on the solemn promise to the people of this country to deliver on the result of the referendum and leave the European Union". As a result, she requested to meet leaders of all parties to have individual meetings on how to continue with the process of leaving the European Union. In reaction to the result, Corbyn asked May to ensure that a
no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called clean break BrexitBBC. (2019)''Brexit: Jargon-busting guide to the key terms'' (BBC) Retrieved 29 March 2019.) was the potential withdrawal of the UK from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal ...
would not occur by telling MPs that the government should "remove clearly, once and for all, the prospect of the catastrophe of a no-deal exit from the EU". That idea of eliminating the possibility of a no-deal Brexit was backed by the SNP. May made a statement to the nation from Downing Street at 22:00. In it, she urged MPs to "put self-interest aside" and "work constructively together" to achieve a solution to Brexit. On the next day, it was reported that
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...
Philip Hammond had reassured executives from leading companies when he spoke to them for more than an hour at 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday that the government had no intention to have a no-deal Brexit occurring. He also said that a
backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...
motion could force the government to rescind
Article 50 Withdrawal from the European Union is the legal and political process whereby an EU member state ceases to be a member of the Union. Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union ( TEU) states that "Any Member State may decide to withdraw from t ...
. That would act as a "sort of ultimate backstop if the work the government is doing in seeking to find a way forward fails to deliver". Corbyn also laid out conditions for the Labour party to support a second referendum. In a speech, he asserted, "If the government remains intransigent, if support for Labour's alternative is blocked for party advantage – and the country is facing the potential disaster of no deal – our duty will then be to look at other options which we've set out in our conference motion, including the option of a public vote". He also requested through the use of email that Labour MPs should not partake in any Brexit discussions with the government until May would rule out a no-deal Brexit after three Labour MPs ( Hilary Benn, Yvette Cooper and John Mann) went to the
Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government objecti ...
to meet Conservative ministers and discuss a solution to the crisis.


See also

*
List of votes of no confidence in British governments In the United Kingdom, confidence motions are a means of testing the support of the government (executive) in a legislative body, and for the legislature to remove the government from office. A confidence motion may take the form of either a vote ...
*
2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...
* Second May ministry


Notes


References


External links


House of Commons Hansard, 16 January 2019: No Confidence in Her Majesty’s GovernmentTheyWorkForYou, 16 January 2019: Business of the House (Today) — No Confidence in Her Majesty’s Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:2019 vote of confidence in the government of Theresa May 2019 in British politics
May May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the third of seven months to have a length of 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, May ...
January 2019 events in the United Kingdom Consequences of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum Brexit Theresa May