May's Brexit deal rejected: what now?

Theresa May's Brexit deal was rejected by MPs last night, and in no uncertain terms. In what proved to be the biggest defeat for any UK government in the modern parliamentary era, the House of Commons threw her plan out by 432 votes to 202. So, what now for Brexit? The answer to that question is multi-faceted and, currently, unknown. More will become clear after today's vote of no confidence result comes in, but looking more long term, what does the British public think the consequence for Brexit will be?

As a new survey by YouGov shows, a plurality (35 percent) think the UK is now staring down the barrel of a no deal Brexit. Fittingly, the second most common response was 'don't know' while the third was the daunting prospect of yet another referendum. When broken down by how respondents voted in the 2016 referendum, there is a clear difference of opinion, perhaps driven on both sides by optimism, between remain and leave voters. A plurality of 'Remainers' (32 percent) think there will now be a second referendum, while close to a majority of 'Leavers' (48 percent) say a no deal exit is most likely.