The leader of the United Kingdom Theresa May has failed again in her bid to get her Brexit deal past Parliament, leading to fevered speculation that she must now call a general election.

May's template to leave the bloc has been rejected three times and currently there is no other deal agreed with the European Union.

The prime minister had faced an uphill task to overturn the 149-vote rejection of her EU divorce deal when it was last voted on earlier this month. May had even offered her future resignation in an apparent exchange for the support of the deal, but the victory failed to materialize and was rejected on Friday afternoon by a margin of 58 votes.

With Britain now set to leave the EU on April 12 and with no formal agreed deal in place, there could be a no-deal Brexit, yet another vote on May's agreement or even a second referendum. Some on Friday suggested that a new government would be a possible next step.

The EU has previously indicated that it would extend Britain's membership to allow any election to be held. It would also would mark the country's third general election in four years.

After the vote on Friday, the leaders of the main opposition Labour party and Scottish National Party both responded by calling for May to now hold a general election.