Tory MPs trigger vote of no confidence in Theresa May

United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote of no confidence in her leadership on Wednesday evening.

Conservative MPs will vote between 6pm and 8pm local time as Tory colleagues indicated they no longer have faith in the prime minister to deliver the Brexit deal.

Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, has received at least 48 letters from Conservative MPs calling for a vote of no confidence in May. Under party rules, a contest is triggered if 15 percent of Conservative MPs write to the chair of the committee of Tory backbenchers.

Brady added in a statement: "The votes will be counted immediately afterwards and the result will be announced as soon as possible in the evening.”

May has come under fire over the Brexit plan she has negotiated. May became prime minister shortly after the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

The prime minister will need the backing of at least 158 Conservative MPs to see off the challenge.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt tweeted that he was backing May to stay in the job.