Theresa May calls for UK June snap election

UK Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking a general election to give her a direct mandate to take the UK through the Brexit divorce with the European Union.

The decision, which comes just three weeks after the Prime Minister began the formal Brexit process, stunned many British politicians as they returned from their Easter break.

The vote will be held on June 8, but first May must win the support of two-thirds of the parliament in a vote on Wednesday. Labour said it will vote in favour of a new election, meaning she should be able to get it through.

Standing outside her Downing Street office, May said she had been reluctant about asking parliament to back her move to bring forward the election from 2020, but decided it was necessary to win support for her ruling Conservative Party's efforts to press ahead with Britain's departure from the EU.

"It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," she said.

"Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done. We need a general election and we need one now,” May said.

May will hope the election will boost her slim majority in parliament and give her a new mandate to put her stamp on domestic reforms in education and health and strengthen her hand in talks with the EU, which will start in earnest in June.

"It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest with me as your Prime Minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats who want to reopen the division of the referendum."

May had previously said categorically that the next general election would be held as scheduled in 2020, but explaining her change of heart, she said: "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election."

The Prime Minister is understood to have changed her mind after taking advice from senior figures including Sir Lynton Crosby, mastermind of the 2015 election campaign.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour party, said he welcomed the decision, suggesting his MPs would back the Commons motion.

“I welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first. Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS.

“In the last couple of weeks, Labour has set out policies that offer a clear and credible choice for the country. We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain.”

Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon suggested an early election gives Scotland a chance to reinforce its democratic mandate to hold an independence referendum.

"In terms of Scotland, this move is a huge political miscalculation by the Prime Minister," Sturgeon, whose Scottish National Party (SNP) is seeking a referendum on independence from the United Kingdom, said in a statement.

"It will once again give people the opportunity to reject the (Conservative government's) narrow, divisive agenda, as well as reinforcing the democratic mandate which already exists for giving the people of Scotland a choice on their future," she said.

Two polls over the Easter weekend put the Conservatives 21 points ahead of Labour, a lead that is likely to greatly increase its existing working Commons majority of 17.

May took power last July without a public vote, after David Cameron resigned and her remaining rival in the Conservative leadership contest, Andrea Leadsom, pulled out of the race.

If May had remained in power without a vote until 2020, it would have been the longest a Prime Minister had served without an election since Winston Churchill during the second world war.