Theresa May has urged her party to “come together” after seeing off an attempt by rebel backbenchers to oust her as Conservative leader and Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister won a confidence vote of the 317 Conservative MPs by a margin of 200 to 117 in a secret ballot at Westminster.

But she sowed the seeds for her eventual departure by telling Tory MPs that she would not lead the party into the next general election, expected in 2022.

And she immediately faced calls to resign from Brexit-backing MPs including Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said that she had lost the confidence of more than one-third of her MPs and a majority of backbenchers.

Speaking in Downing Street moments after the result was announced, Mrs May acknowledged that a “significant” number of her MPs had voted against her and said: “I have listened to what they said.”

She pledged to seek “legal and political assurances” on the Brexit backstop to allay MPs’ concerns about her Withdrawal Agreement when she attends a European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday.

And she said she and her administration had a “renewed mission”, saying: “Following this ballot, we now need to get on with the job of delivering Brexit for the British people and building a better future for this country.”

She said this must involve “politicians of all sides coming together and acting in the national interest”.

But Mr Rees-Mogg  told the Press Association Mrs May should resign “as soon as the Queen has a moment in her diary to see her”.

Brexit
Jacob Rees-Mogg speaks to the media outside the Houses of Parliament (David Mirzoeff/PA)

The chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) of Tory eurosceptics told the BBC: “It’s a terrible result for the Prime Minister, it really is.”

With the “payroll vote” of ministers, parliamentary aides and trade envoys all likely to have backed Mrs May, a majority of the remaining 160-170 backbenchers voted no confidence in her, he said.

“Of course I accept this result, but the Prime Minister must realise that under all constitutional norms, she ought to go to see the Queen urgently and resign.”

The ERG vowed to continue opposing Mrs May’s “disastrous” Brexit deal.

A spokesman urged her to bring it back before the Commons without delay, warning: “The parliamentary arithmetic remains unchanged.”

But other Brexiteers said they would end their efforts to unseat the Tory leader.

Nadine Dorries said: “The PM has secured the confidence of the Parliamentary party tonight. It’s not the way I voted, however, I will fully respect the result.”

And Crispin Blunt said: “The leadership question is now behind us for a year and we must get behind Theresa May in delivering Brexit.”

It was Mrs May’s decision to pull a vote on her deal in the face of what she acknowledged would have been a heavy defeat earlier this week which sparked a new wave of letters of no confidence from Tories, triggering the challenge to her position.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the “dismal” deal should be put before MPs next week.

“The Prime Minister has lost her majority in Parliament, her Government is in chaos and she is unable to deliver a Brexit deal that works for the country and puts jobs and the economy first,” Mr Corbyn said.

“It’s clear that she has not been able to negotiate the necessary changes in Europe. She must now bring her dismal deal back to the House of Commons next week so Parliament can take back control.”

Labour MPs described Mrs May as a “lame duck” due to her decision to pre-announce her departure, which prompted renewed speculation about the possible succession.

Speaking in Downing Street following the announcement of the result, Mrs May said: “While delivering Brexit is important, we also need to focus on the other issues that people feel are vital to them and matter to them today.

“The issues that we came into politics to deal with, building a stronger economy, delivering first-class public services, building the homes that families need.

“We owe it to the people who put us here to put their priorities first.

“So here is our renewed mission: delivering the Brexit that people voted for, bringing the country back together, and building a country that truly works for everyone.”

Theresa May
Theresa May makes a statement in 10 Downing Street after the vote results (Victoria Jones/PA)

Mrs May’s victory in the confidence vote means that another challenge cannot be mounted against her position as Tory leader for a year.

But she still faces the danger of a no-confidence motion in the House of Commons, which could bring her Government down if backed by more than half of all MPs.

The day of drama in Westminster was kicked off by the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady early on Wednesday after he received letters of no confidence in the PM from at least 48 MPs – 15% of the parliamentary party.

In an early-morning statement outside the famous door to Number 10, a defiant Mrs May vowed to fight “with everything I’ve got” to defend her position, warning that a change in prime minister might mean Brexit being delayed or halted.

Prime Minister’s Questions
Theresa May faced the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions ahead of the confidence vote (PA)

Every MP in her Cabinet swiftly issued statements of support and she was greeted by loud cheers from the Tory backbenches when she faced the House of Commons for her weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions.

Addressing assembled MPs at a meeting of the 1922 Committee moments before the crucial vote, Mrs May said that she accepted she could not fight the next election as their leader.

Solicitor general Robert Buckland told reporters: “She said ‘In my heart I would like to lead the party into the next election’ and then that was the introductory phrase to her indication that she would accept the fact that that would not happen, that is not her intention.”

And, according to MPs present at the meeting, she also promised to find a “legally binding solution” to ensuring that the UK does not get permanently trapped in a backstop arrangement to keep the Irish border open after Brexit.

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Conservative MPs listen to Theresa May at a meeting of the 1922 Committee immediately before the crucial vote (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The scale of this task was highlighted by Irish premier Leo Varadkar and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, who insisted in a phone call as MPs voted that the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement “cannot be reopened or contradicted”.

And DUP leader Arlene Foster, who met Mrs May shortly before the ballot, insisted that “tinkering around the edges” of the agreement would not be enough to win her party’s support for the deal.

Mrs Foster, whose 10 MPs prop up the minority Conservative administration, said she told the PM that “we were not seeking assurances or promises, we wanted fundamental legal text changes”.