May can’t contain her schadenfreude after Boris rout in parliament (PHOTO)

UK lawmakers defeated Boris Johnson in something of a parliamentary coup on Tuesday, paving the way for the removal of his preferred no-deal Brexit strategy. His predecessor Theresa May was snapped grinning widely shortly after.

The former British prime minister could hardly contain her mirth from the Conservative back benches as she watched her successor face wave after wave of criticism from both sides of the House of Commons on Tuesday, her first day back in the chamber since stepping down.

©UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout

Father of the House Ken Clarke, who was seated next to May, accused Johnson of fighting for a hasty election after his Brexit strategy was exposed, in which he was caught attempting “to set conditions which make no-deal inevitable, to make sure as much blame as possible is attached to the EU and to this House for that consequence and then as quickly as he can fight a flag-waving general election before the consequences of no-deal become too obvious to the public.”

Clarke and May shared a laugh as Johnson claimed he was a “lifelong fan” of Clarke’s before insisting that neither he, his party nor the opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn want a general election. A short time later, a visibly amused May was spotted grinning ear-to-ear as she left the House that evening.

The collective consciousness on Twitter, some of whom seemingly disagree with Johnson, couldn’t help but live vicariously through May. “Can’t have been easy putting a brave face on it after her successor suffered such a bruising defeat,” one commenter quipped.

“Caption competition not required..!” another added. A third person asked: “Has anyone ever seen Theresa May ever look quite this happy?”

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