UK goes to polls on Dec 12
AROUND THE WORLDN Parliament votes in favour of Boris’ call for an election to break Brexit deadlock
The United Kingdom (UK) is set to go to the polls on December 12, after British lawmakers overwhelmingly backed Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson’s call for an election to break the Brexit deadlock that has led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
The election, which Johnson has attempted to secure for nearly two months, was sealed after the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats broke ranks with the Labour Party and indicated they would be prepared to back a poll, having previously worked together to frustrate the PM’S efforts.
The decision came hours after the European Union (EU) formally agreed to postpone Britain’s departure again, up to the end of January. The House of Commons on Tuesday night backed the election date in a vote by a 438 to 20 margin. The five-year term of the current Parliament was to end in May 2022. It will be the UK’S third election in four years and the first December poll since 1923.
The legislation passed by the Commons will now go to the House of Lords, where it is not expected to be opposed, and Parliament will be dissolved next week.
Once that happens, there will be a five-week campaign up to the polling day.
The development marks a win in Johnson’s bid for a pre- Christmas poll to try and win a public mandate in favour of his Brexit plan under which Britain will quit the EU. But the move is still a risk for his Conservative Party — which lost a slim majority when predecessor Theresa May took a similar gamble and called a vote in 2017.