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What is a vote of no confidence? What time is it? What is a vote of no confidence?
(6 months later)
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn tabled a motion of no confidence after the crushing defeat of Theresa May's Brexit deal by MPs. What does this mean? The Conservative leadership contenders have been warned that around a dozen Tory MPs might support a vote of no confidence in the government to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
What is a no confidence motion? Boris Johnson - the frontrunner ahead of Jeremy Hunt - says the UK must leave the EU by 31 October, come what may.
A vote of no confidence lets MPs decide on whether they want the government to continue - and has the power to trigger a general election. The motion's wording is: "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government." But what would such a vote of no confidence actually mean?
When is the confidence vote in the Commons? What is a no confidence vote?
Jeremy Corbyn tabled the motion after Theresa May's Brexit deal was rejected by MPs on Tuesday evening. It is backed by MPs from the SNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and Green Party. It is a chance for MPs to hold a vote on whether they want the government to continue - and it has the power to trigger a general election.
Prime Minister's Questions go ahead as usual at 12:00 GMT on Wednesday. Following a brief debate on banning low level letterboxes, MPs should start debating the motion at about 13:00 GMT. Any MP can propose a motion of no confidence, but that doesn't mean it would be debated.
The confidence vote is expected at about 19:00 GMT. However, if the leader of the opposition introduces the motion, convention means the government will provide time for a debate to take place.
What happens if Mrs May's government loses? The wording of a no confidence motion is: "That this House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government."
A 14-day countdown is started if a majority of MPs vote for the motion - and a general election will be called if, during that period, the government or any other alternative government cannot win a new vote of confidence. What happens if the government loses?
These 14 days are calendar days and not the days in which Parliament is sitting - so the deadline would be Wednesday 30 January. Losing a no confidence vote starts a critical 14-day period, after which a general election could be triggered.
If there is to then be an election, the earliest it could happen would be 25 working days. To prevent that, the existing government - or an alternative one formed during that period - must persuade MPs to pass a vote of confidence.
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act 2011, UK general elections are only supposed to happen every five years. At the moment, the next one is due in 2022. The wording of the confidence motion has to be: "That this House has confidence in Her Majesty's Government."
Mrs May has already said that she will not be leading the Conservatives into the 2022 general election. The date for the election, if a confidence motion isn't passed, would be 25 working days after Parliament is dissolved.
What happens if Mrs May's government wins? There are no firm rules about who, if anyone, should get the chance to form an alternative government during the 14-day period. The leader of the opposition is clearly a likely candidate, but that is not an inevitable outcome.
This is the outcome that is widely expected. The Cabinet Manual - a document which sets out the main rules covering the working of government - suggests that the principles applied should be similar to those after an election in which no one party wins a majority.
Labour's shadow chancellor John McDonnell has told the BBC that they are expected to lose the vote and the DUP - the party that props up Mrs May's government - has said it will vote in favour of the government. That means that the old prime minister should only resign if and when it's clear that somebody is more likely to have the support of MPs.
Following the vote, Mrs May will have to go back to focusing on getting some form of Brexit deal through Parliament. So it's possible that the existing prime minister would stay in place, or that more than one leader would get a chance.
She offered cross-party talks to determine a way forward in the aftermath of her plan's rejection in the Commons. How could the next Tory prime minister be defeated?
Mrs May is expected to begin a series of meetings with "senior Parliamentarians" on Thursday. Whoever wins the Conservative Party leadership election is expected to become prime minister.
She also told MPs she will return to the Commons with an alternative plan next week, provided she survives the confidence vote. But they will lead a government with a very small majority.
Since the 2017 general election the Tories have been reliant on the 10 DUP MPs in the House of Commons. And their majority has become narrower over time after a series of defections.
So, if some Tories are prepared to vote against them in a no confidence vote the new prime minister could be in office for only a brief period.
Previous no confidence votes
Before the law was changed in 2011 to say elections would be held every five years, the rules governing votes of no confidence were different.
Prime ministers had the power to call general elections whenever they wanted. That meant they could turn votes on particular bits of legislation into "confidence votes".
In other words they would threaten to call an election unless MPs backed a new law.
However, this is no longer an option. Elections are only triggered by no confidence votes with precisely the right wording.
However, the fundamental principle remains the same. Governments can only continue if they have the confidence of the House of Commons.
There's only been one occasion since World War Two when the government lost a no confidence vote.
That was in 1979, when the Labour minority government fell and was replaced by Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives at the general election which followed.