With the support of only 200 MPs out of 650 in Parliament, Mrs. May appeared to be in a very weak position on Thursday, December 13, as she headed off to the European Union summit in Brussels.
Labour may put forward a vote of no confidence in her in Parliament, which could get the support of some or all of the 117 Tory rebels and her erstwhile allies in the Democratic Unionist Party, who are furious with the Northern Ireland “backstop”.
In a bid to win the no confidence vote on Wednesday, December 12, Mrs. May gave MPs in her own party an assurance she would not lead them into the next general election.
So when was the last time a prime minister was in such a weak position?
Jim Callaghan — 1979
The Labour Party won a General Election in 1974 under Harold Wilson but he retired two years later, leaving his former Chancellor, James — better known as Jim — Callaghan, in 10 Downing Street.
Wilson had a majority of three in October 1974 but it was whittled away by by-election defeats and the bizarre case of Labour backbencher John Stonehouse, who faked his own death in Florida and fled to Australia to start a new life with his mistress.
By 1977 Labour could only hold on to power by virtue of a confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals, known as the Lib-Lab Pact.
That too collapsed in 1978 and Callaghan hobbled on through the winter, facing growing economic difficulties. A string of strikes led to it being known…
