The pound maintained most of its advance Wednesday as U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May survived a bid to oust her by members of her own party.

Sterling was up 1 per cent on the day at about US$1.2601, although it held below its session highs amid news that May’s margin of victory in the vote of Conservative Party lawmakers was 200 to 117. The result means May can’t be challenged for another year, though she still faces the daunting task of getting her Brexit plan past Parliament. European Union leaders, meeting on Thursday, have said they won’t renegotiate the divorce deal.

“There will be no durable bounce on the pound until we know what May comes back with from the EU Council in Brussels Thursday, and whether that’s enough to get the deal through Parliament,” Kenneth Broux, a strategist at Societe Generale SA, said ahead of the result.

Sterling reached as high as US$1.2672 earlier in the session.

--With assistance from Mark Tannenbaum.

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