MPs approve an early general election
19 April 2017
On Tuesday 18 April, Prime Minister Theresa May announced her intention to hold a general election on 8 June 2017. MPs approved the motion for an early general election by 522 to 13. The support of two-thirds of all MPs required for this motion to pass was reached.
Early parliamentary election (motion)
MPs voted on the motion:
"That there shall be an early parliamentary general election."
Press release
Related article on Financial Times: Theresa May wins backing from parliament for snap UK election
Theresa May on Wednesday won overwhelming backing from MPs to hold a snap election on June 8, heralding a contest which will see Labour fight an insurgent campaign promising to target the “rich” and big companies with higher taxes.
Mrs May’s victory in the Commons starts seven weeks of election campaigning, with the prime minister offering her Conservatives as the party of “leadership and stability” while seeking a strong mandate to deliver a smooth Brexit.
But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will try to overturn daunting electoral odds by drawing on some of the themes adopted by Donald Trump in the US presidential election, presenting himself as an underdog willing to take on vested interests.[...]
Opinion polls and election experts have claimed Mrs May could see her Commons majority increase from 17 to over 100 in the June 8 vote, although the prime minister admitted: “Every election is a risk.”
[...]Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, said he believed the election would give his pro-European party a chance of a comeback after its near-wipeout in 2015. He vowed on Wednesday to park his party’s “tanks on Tory lawns”.
[...]Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader, said the election would give her party a chance to restate its case for an independence referendum. But she also left open the possibility of an anti-Tory coalition in the event of a hung parliament.
[...]Mrs May wants the election to focus on Brexit, and has argued that by bringing forward the polling day she hopes to have “the strongest possible hand”.
© Financial Times
