British Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote of no confidence in her leadership on Wednesday afternoon, which could oust her from the country's political pinnacle. In a statement outside Downing Street, May said she would "contest that vote with everything I've got." And it appears she has some strong support from many of her fellow party members. Arriving at the House of Commons for Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) just before midday on Wednesday, May was met with cheers as she entered the chamber. Several Conservative MPs throughout the session voiced their displeasure at the scheduled vote. Father of the House of Commons and Conservative MP Ken Clarke said the no confidence vote was "unhelpful, irrelevant and irresponsible," which was met with cheers from the chamber. Clarke, who is pro-Europe, has previously voiced his support of May's Brexit deal, saying it is preferable to a no-deal scenario. His PMQs comments on Wednesday afternoon followed an earlier tweet in which he referred to politicians triggering the vote as "idiots," adding, "I said support the backstop and not the backstab." Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led the attack against May, saying her "behaviour today is contemptuous of this parliament," when she refused to confirm a new date for the delayed meaningful vote on the draft Brexit agreement. "Theresa May's answer is unacceptable. This House agreed when the vote would take place. The Government has denied this House a vote," he said. May said the date of the delayed vote would be announced in due course while she pursued discussions with EU leaders for assurances on her deal. "The way to avoid no deal is to agree a deal," she added. Odds on winning or losing a no confidence vote The odds are heavily in Theresa May's favour to win, according to online bookmakers. Oddschecker, a bookmakers aggregator, said the odds suggested May had an 80% chance of gathering enough support to win the no confidence vote. May needs to secure 158 votes out of 315 from Conservative MPs to retain her leadership. Both the BBC and Sky News say they have hit the 158 mark of public declarations from Conservative MPs in the hours leading up to the vote. But the ballot, held between 19:00-21:00 CET, will be private, and May's future will only become clear once final results are released. With bookies odds and tallies of public declarations all appearing to back May to win the vote of confidence in her leadership, sterling also surged. However, sterling also surged upon mention from UK justice minister David Gauke that Article 50 would need to be extended should May lose, according to Reuters . READ: Theresa May - I will contest no confidence vote 'with everything I've got' Follow live updates on our blog:
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