Theresa May needs to be replaced as British prime minister now, a leading Eurosceptic lawmaker in her Conservative party said on Tuesday as he urged colleagues to trigger a vote of no confidence in her leadership.

"What I would like to happen today is for Conservative members of parliament to realise that we simply cannot go staggering forward any longer like this and I'm afraid to put their letters of no confidence in," Steve Baker told BBC radio.

May on Monday postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit withdrawal deal after it became clear it would be defeated to seek more concessions from the European Union but Baker said her policy was doomed for failure.

"If we can't go forwards with her deal ... then I'm afraid the only way to change the policy is to change the prime minister and I really think it' her duty to go," he said.

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