Scramble for Brexit consensus after May's crushing defeat

LONDON, Jan 16 (Reuters): Prime Minister Theresa May was looking on Wednesday to forge consensus in parliament on a Brexit divorce agreement after the crushing defeat of her own deal left Britain's exit from the European Union in disarray 10 weeks before it is due to leave.

The day after her parliamentary loss by the worst margin for a British government in modern times, May was widely expected to hold on to power through a confidence vote, having secured the backing of her own party's rebels and its Northern Irish allies.

The confidence motion, called by opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn after lawmakers rejected May's Brexit deal by 432-202, was set to be held at 1900 GMT.

With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

After lawmakers in the 800-year-old parliament dismissed May's deal, she pledged to speak to senior parliamentarians to find a compromise that would avoid a disorderly no-deal Brexit or another referendum on membership.

"The prime minister, having got through today, assuming that she does, will then be seeking to talk to senior parliamentarians," House of Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said.

May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the political turmoil that followed the referendum vote, will speak to the opposition Labour party, the Northern Irish DUP and her own lawmakers.