Theresa May’s promise to step down was heavily caveated – she could still lead the Tories into a General Election If her deal is rejected for a third time, the Prime Minister could call an early election

“I am prepared to leave this job earlier than I intended in order to do what is right for our country and our party.”

When Theresa May stood before Conservative MPs on Wednesday night and promised that if her deal passed she would step aside and let someone else lead the second half of the Brexit negotiations, the hope was this would be enough to get the Withdrawal Agreement over the line.

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Inside the room, her words certainly landed well with the majority of MPs. “It was one of the best speeches she’s ever given,” remarked one attendee. In the hours that followed, leading Brexiteers – including Boris Johnson and Iain Duncan Smith – began to back down and say they would now back the deal. Meanwhile, a batch of indicative votes aimed at finding a majority for another form of Brexit all fell flat – with not one winning sufficient support to pass.

A spanner in the form of the DUP

However, May’s luck soon ran out. A chunk of the eurosceptic European Research Group remain unconvinced and argue that given that the Prime Minister has rowed back of many of her Brexit promises, they cannot trust her latest pledge. The death knell came via the DUP. Despite continued talks with the government, Arlene Foster said that her party would not be able to support the withdrawal agreement if it comes to a vote this week.

Given that Theresa May needs 75 MPs to change their mind and back her deal in order to pass it, she is currently heading for another defeat.

Will she still stand down?

However, for the Prime Minister there could still be a silver lining. May’s promise to stand down and pave the way for a successor was heavily caveated – and appears to rest on her deal passing. As one May ally told me soon after the meeting, if the deal is rejected for a third time the Prime Minister’s future would be the “least of anyone’s concerns” and they for one would be “very happy” for her to stay in post as at this point you would need an adult in the room for the decisions that would follow.

It follows that should May fail to pass her deal by Friday, Conservative MPs are concerned about what happens next. A number of ministers – including Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay – have made clear they would rather the party take a chance on an early election than go back on its Brexit manifesto commitments and pursue a softer form of Brexit.

MPs increasingly believe May agrees with them and could try and go to the polls if the deadlock continues. Her words last night have done little to ease concerns that she could be the one to lead MPs into such a vote.

Twitter: @katyballs