Will the PM call an election for May 4?

LABOUR is preparing for a snap general election as early as May 4 as Theresa May comes under pressure from Tories to secure her own mandate for Brexit.

Labour’s election co- ordinator Andrew Gwynne said the party is on a ‘war footing’ in case the Prime Minister decides to use polling day for the local elections in May to hold a general election as well.

Tory sources confirmed that Mrs May’s parliamentary aide George Hollingbery has discussed the idea of an early election with party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin and chief whip Gavin Williamson.

But they insisted he was merely passing on messages from Conservative MPs who believe she should exploit Labour’s weakness and go to the polls now.

Mrs May, who has stressed she does not favour an early election, has seven days to decide whether to change course and order one.

Under electoral law, the last day she could act for a May 4 election would be March 27, the day on which she is expected to trigger Brexit.

The process is also complicated by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, under which an election cannot be held without a vote in the Commons backed by two-thirds of MPs.

Despite the Tories’ double- digit lead in the opinion polls, Mr Gwynne said Labour would back the Commons motion needed to sanction a snap election.

He added: ‘It would be difficult not to because if the Government wants to dissolve Parliament, wants a general election, we don’t want the Tories to be in government, we want to be in government – we want to have that opportunity to put that case to the British people.’

Some senior Tories are urging Mrs May to clear the decks for an election before Brexit talks begin.

Former Conservative leader Lord Hague warned earlier this month that Mrs May’s slender Commons majority of 17 could make it difficult to pass the legislation needed to take Britain out of the EU.

He said a ‘ large and decisive majority in the Commons and a new full term’ would ease the way for challenges such as the Brexit negotiations and the ‘threat from Scottish nationalists’.

Tory MPs also point out that an election would give the Prime Minister the opportunity to secure her mandate for policies such as the launch of a new generation of grammar schools, which could otherwise be blocked by the House of Lords.