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Facing his first House of Commons vote on the first day of the new parliamentary term, Johnson fell to a heavy defeat, as 21 of his own Conservative MPs joined forces with opposition parties to back the first stage of legislation that will delay Brexit — again — from its current date of October 31, if no deal with the EU is in sight. [...]
Johnson, determined to take the U.K. out of the EU with or without a deal on October 31, will now roll the dice on a snap general election aimed at changing the parliamentary arithmetic and gaining authority in the House of Commons — something many believe he has wanted all along.
But in an unforeseen complication, opposition parties indicated they would not vote for an election to take place until their proposed legal change — aimed at stopping a no-deal Brexit — has completed its fast-track journey to becoming law. Without their support and assuming the MPs' plan clears the House of Lords, Johnson could find himself stranded, forced to ask Brussels for a Brexit delay he repeatedly said he would never seek and unable to use a snap election to override his opponents. Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn hailed the vote as a victory for the House of Commons over what opposition MPs consider to be a government determined to ride roughshod over parliamentary democracy in order to deliver Brexit.
"We do not have a presidency but a prime minister," Corbyn said. "Prime ministers govern with the consent of the House of Commons representing the people in whom the sovereignty rests. There is no consent in this House to leave the EU without a deal." [...]