LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May’s position as leader of the Conservative Party - and consequently her premiership - is under threat, with media reporting that some lawmakers who are unhappy with the draft Brexit deal she has reached with the European Union are taking steps to call a confidence vote. May was still on her feet in the marathon Commons session when Rees-Mogg gave his letter to Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, who keeps track of whether the threshold of 48 MPs has been reached in order to trigger a contest. Rees-Mogg, who rejected May’s Brexit deal just moments after it was published on Wednesday night, told reporters ‘this is nothing to do with personal ambition’. The candidate with the fewest votes is removed and Conservative lawmakers vote again. But MPs who are standing firm with the prime minister have warned that a coup would destroy the government, plunge the economy into peril and halt any chance of a fair deal for Brexit altogether.
Conservative Party backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg, with the backing of at least a dozen Tory MPs, says he will submit a letter to the chair of the 1922 Committee, Graham Brady, to trigger a motion of no confidence against Prime Minister Theresa May.