Britain's leader Theresa May to face no-confidence vote amid Brexit turmoil

LONDON – Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote in Parliament later Wednesday that could determine whether she will be ousted from power.

A no-confidence vote was triggered after 48 lawmakers from May's ruling Conservative Party wrote to an influential parliamentary committee calling for her to step aside amid discontent over a Brexit deal she agreed with the European Union to leave the bloc.

May has been prime minister since shortly after Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016. In Britain, a political party is elected to government, not an individual, meaning if May is removed from office the Conservatives would chose a new leader. A fresh election is not needed. The vote is expected to begin at 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET).

More: Britain's Brexit chaos: Vote on May's deal on hold; future is fuzzy

May told reporters outside her official residence on Downing Street she would "contest that vote with everything that I’ve got." She warned that if she is forced to step down Brexit could be delayed or even stopped altogether. "Weeks spent tearing ourselves apart will only create more divisions," she said.

"I stand ready to finish the job," May vowed.

There are 315 Conservative lawmakers in Britain's Parliament. May needs 158 of their votes to win the contest. If she loses, she must resign and is barred from running in a new leadership vote in which only Conservative parliamentarians can run.

There is no obvious choice to replace May if she loses the vote. Among the names favored by British bookmakers are Dominic Raab, who resigned as Britain's top Brexit official last month; Sajid Javid, a former banker serving as interior minister; and Boris Johnson, a tousle-haired, American-born former journalist and ex-secretary of state for foreign affairs under May before he too quit over her Brexit stance.

Johnson is the only contender who will be well-known to President Donald Trump. Trump has called Johnson, also London's ex-mayor, a "very talented guy" for whom he has "a lot of respect" and who has "what it takes" to be a "great prime minister."

By contrast, May and Trump have had an awkward relationship that has strained a historic "special" alliance that stretches back decades. Trump has criticized May's Brexit plan and May has publicly disagreed with Trump on a range of geopolitical issues from his withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal to his immigration policies.

From the archives: USA TODAY's interview with Boris Johnson

The Conservative lawmakers who brought the challenge to May's leadership feel the deal she negotiated with the EU does not go far enough to disentangle Britain's economic and political ties to the 28-nation bloc. They are especially concerned about an unresolved question over the land border between Northern Ireland (part of Britain) and the Republic of Ireland (part of the EU). Decades of peace between Northern Ireland’s Irish Catholic community and its British Protestant one has been facilitated by the free trade and travel across that border that EU membership allows. May delayed a separate parliamentary vote on the EU deal this week because it was unlikely to pass.

Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 next year. But David Gauke, Britain's justice secretary, said it was "vital for the country" May emerge victorious Wednesday. He said if she loses the vote he didn't think Britain would be leaving the EU on that day.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Britain's leader Theresa May to face no-confidence vote amid Brexit turmoil