UK’s Sunday Times claims 40 Tory MP’s ready to oust Theresa May

Forty members of parliament from the Conservative Party have agreed to sign a letter of no-confidence their leader Theresa May, according to a report in the UK’s Sunday Times newspaper.

According to the Sunday Times, the move comes as MPs respond to threats by European Union negotiators to block all trade talks until March, unless Britain agrees to settle the so-called “Brexit divorce bill”.

Assuming the report is correct, it would mean that Tory rebels are eight short of the number needed to trigger a party leadership race, possibly forcing May from office, to be replaced by another party MP.

With May seemingly battling for her survival on several fronts, the state of affairs continued to worsen over the last week, which saw Priti Patel becoming the second cabinet minister to resign, after defense minister Michael Fallon last week. Two other ministers are currently also facing pressure to quit.

The UK prime minister has struggled to maintain her authority over her party after a snap-election, intended to further strengthen her position, saw her party losing its parliamentary majority.

An earlier attempt to unseat May in the wake of her disastrous speech at the annual party conference fizzled out, but many Conservatives remain unhappy with the way things are panning out with talk of a mutiny still lingering.

In the event of a leadership contest, if a challenger defeated May he or she would take over as Conservative leader and as prime minister.