OK, that headline might be a stretch but hey, its the internet, right?
A snippet from Barclays on the leadership politics:
even after several cabinet resignations - including that of the Secretary of State for Leaving the EU, Dominic Raab, and the submission of no-confidence letters in PM May's leadership by numerous Tory MPs - PM May is as yet 'uncontested' and has vowed to fight on and 'see this through'.
- While the Conservative party requires only a fifth of its MPs (in this parliament that means 48) to submit letters of no-confidence to trigger a leadership contest, more than 158 votes would actually be needed to win the leadership vote, and even then, this would constitute just the first step of a series of challenges if she is to be removed as PM. This may very well be the reason that there has been no official challenge, ie, 48 MPs may be willing to oust her, but there are not yet the 158 that would be required to actually make it happen.
- if Theresa May survives a confidence vote, then not only can she not be challenged again within a year, but surviving a confidence vote is likely to be perceived as implicit support for her by the Conservative party in EU negotiations. In other words, the stakes are high for her challengers, as a failed confidence vote is likely to strengthen her position and increase the likelihood that the withdrawal agreement is passed eventually.
If I was her it'd be just one finger, then again Aussies are a little blunt sometimes
