³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Theresa May has won a vote after a challenge to her leadership of the Conservative Party.

It means she can carry on doing her job as prime minister.

The challenge to Mrs May's position came after at least 48 letters calling for a contest were written by Members of Parliament (MPs) from her own team - the Conservative Party.

That lead to a vote of ALL Conservative MPs on Wednesday night to see if they still had confidence in her leadership.

The prime minister won the ballot by 200 votes to 117.

In a statement in Downing Street, Mrs May said she had listened to the concerns of MPs who voted against her.

The prime minister said she now "wanted to get on with the job of building a better future for the country".

Mrs May, who has been prime minister since shortly after the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016, has faced criticism in her party for the Brexit plan she has negotiated.

Under the Conservative Party's system, there are two ways to trigger a leadership contest.

One is if the leader resigns. The other is if 15% of Conservative MPs write letters saying they no longer have confidence in her.

These letters have to be sent to the chairman of the 1922 Committee, which is made up of all Conservative MPs not in important government positions.

The 1922 Committee chairman - who is currently an MP called Sir Graham Brady - does not reveal how many letters he has received until it reaches the 15% mark, which means 48 letters would have to be received.

When he got those, he triggered a vote of confidence in Mrs May among all Conservative MPs which is what took place on Wednesday evening.

It was a secret vote, and by winning, she is now safe from another challenge for one year.

If she had lost, there would have been a leadership contest, and she would not be able to stand.