Theresa May has confirmed publicly she will not lead the Conservatives into the next general election in 2022.

She made the remarks as she arrived at the European Council summit in Brussels following a bruising Wednesday in Westminster.

The Prime Minister won a confidence vote in her leadership by Tory MPs by 200 votes to 117, but reportedly told her backbenchers prior to the ballot she would not stay on before the next election scheduled for 2022.

She is attending the final summit of the year with EU leaders and is bidding to get assurances on her Brexit deal that the thorny Irish backstop will be time-limited.

May cancelled Tuesday's planned meaningful vote on her deal due to an anticipated heavy Commons defeat due to concerns over the backstop.

Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, general elections are held at five-year intervals unless the government is toppled or two-thirds of MPs back an early election.

May was able to force an early general election in 2017 but lost her party's majority.

Speaking in Brussels, the Prime Minister confirmed her intention not to lead the party into the 2022 vote.

She said: "I have said that in my heart I would love to be able to lead the Conservative party into the next general election.

"But I think it is right that the party feels that it would prefer to go into that election with a new leader."

Asked whether she had a date in mind to stand down, she refused to name one.