Explained: How Jeremy Corbyn can still be Prime Minister

Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to oust Theresa May from Downing Street using the upcoming Queen’s Speech.

The Labour leader intends to strike as pressure mounts on the struggling Prime Minister after last week’s general election resulted in a hung parliament and the possibility of a Tory deal with the controversial Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

“I can still be Prime Minister. This is still on. Absolutely. Theresa May has been to the Palace. She’s attempting to form a government,” Corbyn told the Sunday Mirror in an exclusive interview.

“She’s then got to present a programme to Parliament. We will – obviously – amend the Queen’s Speech. There’s a possibility of voting it down and we’re going to push that all the way.

“We have got a mandate to deal with issues of poverty, justice and inequality in Britain. We want to end austerity and invest in this country and that’s what we’re going to do. Nearly 13 million people voted for us to do it. That’s why I’m here.”

What is the Queen’s Speech?

The Queen’s Speech acts as the centrepiece to the State Opening of Parliament, which will take place on Monday 19 June. In the speech, the Queen will announce a list of the laws that the government hopes to get approved by parliament over the coming year.

MPs will then debate the laws in the following days before taking a vote on Tuesday 27 June. This will effectively be a test of confidence in the Conservative government, Theresa May’s leadership, and any possible agreement with the DUP.

What is Jeremy Corbyn going to do?

Corbyn believes that without an outright majority in the House of Commons, May’s position is vulnerable and he intends to vote down the Queen’s Speech and table a “substantial amendment” in an attempt to bring down her administration.

Another general election within months is also expected, Corbyn has said.

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Corbyn said: “We’re going to put down a substantial amendment to the Queen’s Speech which will contain within it the main points of our manifesto, and so we’ll invite the House to consider all the issues we put forward which I’ve mentioned – jobs-first Brexit, mention the issues of young people and austerity, there’s many other things.”

Labour will urge other parties to support its speech with the aim of forming an alternative government.

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How likely is it to work?

If Corbyn is successful in voting down the Tories’s Queen’s Speech, he could have a chance of forming the next government, however it would be a huge challenge.

Even if he could secure backing from all of the MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, the Green Party, and Plaid Cymru, this still wouldn’t be enough to win a majority. This is based on the assumption that the Tories can strike a deal with the DUP and that all of May’s members support her.

As well as the non-Tory MPs, Corbyn would also need to win the support of at least some Tory backbenchers for his plan to succeed.