What will happen if Theresa May loses her seat in parliament?

Will she stay ‘strong and stable?’

Will she stay ‘strong and stable?’

Today marks the General Election 2017, a snap election called by Prime Minister Theresa May on 18th April.

Announcing the news outside Downing Street, she argued that it would bring greater stability to a country divided over Brexit, insisting, ‘If we do not hold a General Election now, political game-playing will continue’.

Today, six weeks of campaigning has come to an end as thousands of people across the UK are flocking to polling stations to cast their vote.

Will the Conservatives have a landslide victory? Will Labour surge ahead? Or will there be a coalition?

All of our questions will be answered tomorrow, but there’s one pressing query that people aren’t letting go of – what will happen if Theresa May loses her seat in parliament?

While the Prime Minister usually resides in a ‘safe seat’ and is guaranteed a win, there are some doubts over Theresa’s constituency of Maidenhead as they seem to disagree with her on the subject of Brexit.

Theresa May has made it clear that this election is to gain control over Brexit, something that 54% of the population of Maidenhead disagreed with, voting remain.

If therefore they did vote against her, electing Maidenhead’s Labour candidate Pat McDonald for example, what would happen?

Would she be forced to stand down as Prime Minister? Will a hard Brexit still happen?

Well, due to political tradition (followed since 1902), all ministers have to be members of the House of Commons, so if she loses her seat tomorrow, she will most likely have to step down as Prime Minister.

Only one exception has been made, with Sir Alec Douglas being made exempt due to being a member of the House of Lords.

So, if Theresa’s constituency votes against her today, she might be booking a moving van after her speech to vacate 10 Downing Street ASAP.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.