May calls for June election

London: Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, the UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday her plans to seek a general election for June 8. May accused the opposition parties of threatening the government’s Brexit agenda and cited the need for Parliament to unite during the negotiations over the specifics of the Brexit, the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, members of Parliament must approve the snap election by a two-thirds vote in favor. The vote was held on Wednesday in the House of Commons, with the motion to hold an early election passing 522 to 13.

If her Conservative Party follows pollsters’ expectations, May, who became Prime Minister after the resignation of David Cameron in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, would expand her majority in the House of Commons. The opposition Labour party is behind in the polls, at half the support of the Conservatives in a recently released poll by YouGov on behalf of The Times.

The move was a reversal from previous statements, as the Prime Minister said earlier that an early election would not take place.

From Wikinews under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 licence