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The Prime Minister met her party's backbench 1922 Committee tonight after the shock Cabinet resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson. Their dramatic departures have thrown Mrs May's Brexit proposals into chaos and sparked rumours she could face a leadership challenge. The 1922 Committee is understood to have received letters from Eurosceptic MPs calling for a vote of no confidence in Mrs May. A vote on her future would be triggered if the Committee, chaired by senior MP Sir Graham Brady, receives letters from 48 MPs.

A senior Tory source said it seems "pretty certain" that 48 letters would be lodged to spark a leadership challenge. But a defiant Mrs May appears to have headed off a potential threat to her leadership, at least for now, according to Westminster insiders. The Prime Minister used tonight's 1922 meeting to urge MPs to back her, or risk hard-left Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn seizing power. She reminded the backbenchers that Tory splits led to the party's crushing defeat at the 1997 general election at the hands of New Labour. Pro-Remain MPs including Business Secretary Greg Clark led cheers for Mrs May before she delivered her speech.

Theresa May could be ousted in a Conservative leadership challenge

Chequers summit in pictures: Theresa May's big Brexit meeting Fri, July 6, 2018 The Prime Minister gathered her cabinet together ahead of a crunch Brexit showdown at her country retreat at Chequers in Buckinghamshire Play slideshow PA 1 of 14 Members of the cabinet and government officials gather at Chequers

Brexiteer Tory MP Michael Fabricant‏ tweeted: "PM gets rousing cheer and standing ovation before she begins to speak." The Prime Minister entered the 1922 meeting at 5:30pm after spending two hours in the Commons chamber answering questions about Brexit. As she walked into the room at Westminster's Portcullis House, she joked to journalists waiting outside: "I wonder what you're all doing here." Then, speaking to the MPs inside, she said: "Hello ladies and gentlemen. What a lot of people here." After the meeting, influential Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg told reporters he believed Mrs May would not face a leadership challenge. And a prominent Remain-supporting MP said: "There will be no leadership challenge now."

The House of Commons chamber was nearly empty during the 1922 Committee meeting

The Prime Minister is strengthened by all of this Robert Buckland

Solicitor General Robert Buckland said that up to six MPs had expressed dissent during the meeting. He said: "The meeting wasn't some sort of rally where dissent was suppressed, it was the Tory family talking to each other in a grown-up way. "People are talking to each other, engaging with each other, being frank with each other, but realising that we all hang together or we all hang separately. "I think the Prime Minister is strengthened by all of this. I think it helps her. "What she said, I think the most striking remark was: 'To lead is to decide'."

Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg said he believes Theresa May will cling on

It is far from clear that the Prime Minister would lose any possible vote of no confidence in the future. Rebels are by no means certain of securing the backing of 159 Tory MPs which they would need for a successful coup. However, a narrow victory would leave Mrs May as a wounded Prime Minister and raise doubts over the viability of her remaining in office. Sir Graham Brady declined to comment on whether he had received any letters from MPs calling for a no confidence vote in Mrs May. He said: "It would be entirely improper ever to comment in any way on that subject, because inevitably a commentary could influence the course of events."

Brexit Secretary David Davis quit the Cabinet in protest at Mrs May's negotiating stance

Asked if Mrs May would fight any attempt to remove her through a vote of no confidence, a senior Downing Street source said: "Yes." Yesterday, Conservative backbencher Andrea Jenkyns said she believed that Mrs May's time as Prime Minister was "over". She said: "I want a Prime Minister who passionately believes in Brexit and will provide true leadership and a positive post-Brexit vision for our country." And senior backbencher Bernard Jenkin said there had been a "massive haemorrhage of trust" in Mrs May's leadership. Asked if Brexiteers needed to put the PM's future to a vote of the Conservative Party, he replied: "It may well come to that."

The BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg on the 1922 Committee meeting