British lawmakers have, as expected, voted in favour of the snap election proposed yesterday by Prime Minister Theresa May, setting the date for June 8.
MPs from across the political spectrum voted 522-13 for a return to the polls — well above the two-thirds majority required under British law.
May said the election is needed to stabilize her Conservative Party and the British government ahead of negotiations to leave the European Union.
“I believe that at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster not division,” she said as MPs debated in Parliament.
“That’s why it is the right and responsible thing for all of us here today to vote for a general election.”
But May, who had repeatedly ruled out the possibility of an early election, has faced criticism for the sudden reversal.
“How can any voter trust what the prime minister says?” asked Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the Labour Party.
May’s Conservatives have 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and are polling well ahead of Labour, the main Opposition party.
The prime minister’s own personal ratings also dwarf those of Corbyn, with 50 per cent of those asked saying she would make the best prime minister. Corbyn wins only 14 per cent, according to pollster YouGov.
If the opinion polls are right, May will win a new mandate for a series of reforms she wants to make and also a vote of confidence in a vision for Brexit which sees the country outside the EU’s single market.
May took over as prime minister for David Cameron, who resigned last year after voters said Yes to Brexit, the U.K.’s planned withdrawal from the European Union.
