Pound to US dollar exchange rate: Sterling drops after 117 MPs oppose Theresa May in confidence vote

The pound has dropped against the dollar despite Theresa May surviving a confidence vote in her leadership.

More than a third of the prime minister’s MPs voted against her in the ballot on Wednesday evening.

In the wake of the vote, sterling initially reacted positively before falling about half a cent against the dollar.

The exchange rate is now about 1.2596 dollars to the pound.

Earlier in the week sterling took a huge hit, plummeting to 20-month low against the dollar after Mrs May’s decision to delay the Commons vote on her Brexit deal.

It made gains on Wednesday from $1.2527 to $1.2634 as the prime minister vowed to fight the challenge to her leadership, saying a change could jeopardise Brexit.

But despite winning Wednesday evening’s vote, 117 votes against the prime minister is considered by many to be a big number.

"It is a terrible result for the prime minister," Jacob Rees-Mogg, leader of the European Research Group, told the BBC.

"The prime minister must realise that, under all constitutional norms, she ought to go and see the Queen urgently and resign."