Standing outside Downing Street, May announced that she had won the backing of her senior ministers after debate. "This is a decisive step which enables us to move on and finalize the deal in the days ahead," she said.
There had been talk that some mutinous members of her Cabinet might resign and that remained a possibility. Even as the meeting drew to a close, rumors swirled in Westminster that May could face a vote of no-confidence from within the ranks of her own Conservative Party.