Theresa May survived a mutiny — and Brexit is still a terrible mess

British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a mutiny by members of her own Conservative party Wednesday — but the result brings her government no closer to fixing the turmoil over Brexit.

May comfortably won the no-confidence vote in her leadership triggered by Brexit hardliners, with 200 Conservative MPs voting in her support and 117 against.

But with more than one-third of her MPs voting against her, it underscored the significant opposition to her draft EU withdrawal deal within her party — and highlighted the battle she still faces to get the agreement approved by Parliament ahead of a fast approaching deadline.

May, who had signaled to MPs ahead of the vote she would not lead the party into the next election, currently scheduled for 2022, emerged from 10 Downing Street Wednesday night saying she was grateful for the backing.

“A significant number of colleagues did cast a vote against me and I’ve listened to what they said,” said May, who under party rules cannot face another confidence vote for a year.

“We now have to get on with the job of delivering Brexit for the British people.”

Conservative MP and hardline Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg, who called for the no-confidence vote, maintained that May should still step down.

“It is a terrible result for the prime minister,” he told the BBC. “The prime minister must realise that, under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the Queen urgently and resign.”

Surviving the backbench mutiny does nothing to solve any of the embattled prime minister’s Brexit problems, as she tries to get her draft EU withdrawal deal, as negotiated with European leaders, approved by Parliament before Britain is scheduled to leave the bloc on March 29.

Before that — by Jan. 21 — Britain is supposed to present its official Brexit position to the EU, having voted on the deal in Parliament. But it appears the deal doesn’t have enough support in Parliament to pass.

May flew to Brussels Thursday to try to persuade EU leaders to give Britain a legally binding commitment that the contentious “Irish backstop” component of the Brexit deal will be temporary. Many in her party fear the backstop — designed to ensure there is no return to a “hard border” between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland — could last indefinitely.

READ: Theresa May’s own party finally moved to kick her out

Citing EU diplomats, Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper reported that the EU was set to reject her request, and that she would be given just 10 minutes to make her pitch to other leaders at an EU summit dinner. Senior EU figures have been adamant that they’re not prepared to budge on the draft agreement.

May faces the same parliamentary arithmetic that saw her cancel a planned vote on the deal scheduled for Tuesday, as it looked certain to be voted down. With no deal in place with the EU before the March deadline to leave, the chances grow for a so-called “no deal Brexit,” which is widely tipped to have catastrophic consequences for the British economy.

Cover image: Theresa May, U.K. prime minster, arrives back at number 10 Downing Street in London, U.K., on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)