Theresa May has called a snap general election to be held on 8 June, despite repeatedly claiming she was against the idea of an early vote.
In a surprise statement outside Downing street, the prime minister said: “After the country voted to leave the EU, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership. Since I became prime minister the government has delivered precisely that.”
She claimed Labour and the other opposition parties had opposed her. “The country is coming together but Westminster is not. Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach. The Lib Dems have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. Unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.”
May said she was laying down a motion in the House of Commons that will require two-thirds of MPs to back it.
The announcement came as a huge surprise, causing massive speculation on Tuesday morning.
Robert Hayward, the Conservative peer and election expert, said: “This is a massive surprise to everyone but the very closest confidants, even in the Tory party. There will be many very worried Labour MPs and some pleased Lib Dem candidates.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
A bit of a surprise but May knows she is in a strong position to simultaneously hit Labour and the Scots Nats hard. Labour because the parliamentary party will not work with the leader (Corbyn) the membership elected and the SNP because the bulk of Scots do not want an ‘independent’ Scotland that will be at the, none too tender, mercy of Brussels, like Greece.
8 June – General Election
9 June – Bye Bye Corbyn & Sturgeon
Hopfully, i hope people see what a weak leader he is and what an idiot she
Good god I hope so. But I would rather Corbyn stayed at the helm of labour, I don’t like him or his ideological opponents within the party.
You could be right on both counts, this announcement has wrong footed Sturgeon. The case with Corbyn may be different as the Labour party is in a transitional stage. Most of the membership do not like nor trust the current crop of Labour MPs, much like my own party with Carswell.
Carswell jumped before he was ejected from the party. In this election there may be a similar weeding out with establishment Labour figures being voted out by the electorate or kicked out by the party members. Corbyn currently enjoys the goodwill of most Labour supporters and he may survive.
In any case my own view is that Corbyn’s wish is to change the Labour party, I think that if he won this election and was asked by the Queen to form a government he would be horrified!
Nice one – hopefully she will consign Corbyn & Sturgeon to the history books once and for all.
If Labour were voted in, as usual they would borrow to implement their policies and the UK would be in a worse financial state !