May seeks early poll on June 8
Unexpected gamble aimed at Brexit gains
LONDON: In a shock announcement, the UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday called for an early general election to be held on June 8 to seek a strong mandate as she negotiates Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Standing outside 10 Downing Street, Ms May said she would ask the House of Commons to back her call for an election, just two years after the last vote and three years before the next scheduled date in May 2020.
She said that since Britons voted to leave the EU in June, the country had come together, but politicians had not.
She said the political divisions “risk our ability to make a success of Brexit”.
Ms May’s governing Conservatives have a small majority, with 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.
With the main opposition Labour Party weakened and divided under left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats holding just nine Commons seats, Ms May is calculating that the election will bring her an expanded crop of Conservative lawmakers.
That would make it easier for her to ignore opposition calls for a softer EU exit.
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Theresa May said she will seek an early election on June 8, in an unexpected gamble aimed at strengthening her hand going into talks on leaving the European Union.
The surprise statement came less than a month after she triggered the formal start of Brexit and marks a reversal of her position before the Easter break, when her office insisted an early election wasn’t on the cards.
An election isn’t due until 2020 though her popularity — polls show her Conservative Party is more than 20 points ahead of the main opposition — give her an opening to consolidate her power. The announcement indicates that Ms May has decided she cannot get the Brexit legislation she needs through the House of Commons with the slim majority she inherited from David Cameron. “There should be unity here in Westminster but instead there is division,” she said in a statement outside her Downing Street residence yesterday. “The country is coming together but Westminster is not.” A rift in parliament will damage the government’s ability to make a success of Brexit, she said.
Her current polling lead over Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party means she can be fairly confident of increasing her majority, and bringing Tory lawmakers into parliament who will back her on the flavor of Brexit that she prefers. Moreover, a survey last week by Orb International showed that 55% of Britons support her handling of Brexit talks.
“This is Theresa May’s attempt to free herself from some of the constraints she’s under and get the mandate to execute the hard Brexit she’s been talking about,” said Mujtaba Rahman, managing director of the Eurasia Group. “She sees an opportunity to win the election, secure a bigger mandate and execute the hard Brexit.”
A poll on Monday gave the Conservatives a 21-point lead over Labour for the first time in nine years, according to The Times newspaper. Ms May’s party would win 44% of the vote, compared with 23% for Labour and 12% for the Liberal Democrats, The Times said, citing a poll by YouGov. However, a 2011 law passed by Mr Cameron during his coalition government with the Liberal Democrats has complicated matters. It means there are two circumstances in which there could be an early election: If two-thirds of the House of Commons votes for one or if the government loses a no-confidence vote and a new administration fails to win a confidence motion within 14 days.
In her statement Ms May said she was taking the first course of action. “Tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on the 8th of June,” she said.
The vote will need the backing of a substantial number of opposition lawmakers, including many from Labour. For the Liberal Democrats, leader Tim Farron signalled he’d support the motion and urged voters who oppose leaving the EU to back his party.
“If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit, if you want to keep Britain in the single market, if you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance,” he said.
Labour’s Mr Corbyn has previously said his party would back an early election.
The EU said yesterday it did not expect negotiating guidelines for Britain’s exit from the bloc to be affected by the call for an early general election.
“The UK elections do not change our EU27 plans,” said Preben Aamann, spokesman for Donald Tusk, president of the European Council of the remaining 27 member states.”We expect to have the Brexit guidelines adopted by the European Council on 29 April and, following that, the Brexit negotiating directives ready on 22 May,” Mr Aamann said.