Thatcher Gets Party’s Vote of Confidence : Britain: The result falls short of the overwhelming endorsement her supporters were seeking.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was confirmed as leader of Britain’s Conservative Party today, but her support fell short of expectations. She won 314 of an eligible 374 votes in the party’s annual leadership election.

Rebel member of Parliament Sir Anthony Meyer, who challenged Thatcher in protest over her opposition to closer integration with Europe, won 33 votes, the committee organizing the vote said in a statement. The remaining votes, made up of abstentions, spoiled ballots or members of Parliament who failed to cast one, were also viewed by party members as counting against the prime minister.

The result was seen as falling short of the overwhelming endorsement Thatcher’s supporters were hoping for at a time that the ruling Conservatives are trailing in opinion polls and the government is being buffeted economically.

The outcome was described as “troublesome” for Thatcher and could open the way for a more serious challenge to the prime minister, who does not need to call a general election until June, 1992.

Thatcher, 64, has been in office since winning the first of a record three successive elections in 1979, and it was the first contested election since Thatcher ousted former Prime Minister Edward Heath as leader in 1975. The longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th Century, she has said she will stay in office by “popular acclaim” as long as voters want her.

Shortly before the vote, Thatcher told Parliament that she had received a telephone call from President Bush to say there was no difference in their views on Europe.

Bush told NATO leaders in Brussels on Monday that the United States supports an integrated Europe. His remarks were seen in some quarters as a prod to Thatcher, who has objected to a common European currency and other aspects of unification.

In Washington, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft told reporters that Bush reassured Thatcher today that the United States has not changed its position about a unified European market. Scowcroft said Bush believes that a stronger Europe is good for the United States, but the details and timing of the integration are up to the Europeans.

Thatcher is expected to clash with most of her European partners at an EC summit in Strasbourg, France, over the weekend on the pace of economic and monetary union.