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Tory MPs will vote between 6pm and 8pm tonight after the required 48 letters calling for the vote were delivered.

Some have come out in support of the Prime Minister on Twitter this morning after news of the vote was revealed.

One of those was Fenland MP and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay.

The MP for North East Cambridgeshire tweeted: “I fully support the PM. This is a crucial stage with weeks to go before we leave the EU. We need to back @theresa_may and deliver the referendum result. The PM is working in our national interest and this distraction risks damaging uncertainty.”

Grantham and Stamford MP Nick Boles went further by condemning Brexiteers for triggering the vote.

In a series of tweets he wrote: “The hardliners from the ERG have launched this challenge to Theresa May’s leadership to increase the chances of the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal during the chaos. It is grossly irresponsible and colleagues should have no truck with it.

“Todays vote will determine whether the Conservative Party is a party of ideological wreckers or a party of responsible government. Few MPs have been more critical of Theresa May’s leadership than me. But now is not the time to replace her.

“The ERG have spent the last month demanding that Theresa May change the terms of the backstop. She is now trying to secure the changes they want, and yet they decide to pull the rug out from under her feet. They will never be satisfied.

“Glad to say that I have the full support of my association chairman in denouncing this grossly irresponsible challenge to Theresa May’s leadership. As he says ‘there is not a cat in hell’s chance of a new leader getting a better deal from Europe’.”

Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly said: “I shall be voting for the PM this evening. Given the ongoing EU negotiations I see the timing of this confidence vote to be all of ill advised, self indulgent and contrary to the national interest.”

MP for South Holland & The Deepings John Hayes has also indicated he will back the Prime Minister.

North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara has supported the Prime Minister in recent weeks despite resigning as Northern Ireland minister over her Brexit deal.

He said on Monday that he welcomed her decision to try and renegotiate the withdrawal agreement with the EU, but today he told the Peterborough Telegraph he would not make up his mind on whether to support her as leader until he hears her speak to backbenchers later this afternoon.

The deal was meant to be voted on last night but was pulled on Monday afternoon after Mrs May admitted it had no chance of passing through Parliament.

The Prime Minister said in a statement today: “I will contest that vote with everything I have got.”

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