UK parliament votes to back early general election
April 19, 2017
The British Prime Minister Theresa May has won the vote in parliament to back her call for an early general election. She said the result will help unify parliament behind her Brexit plan and prevent instability.
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The vote was passed by 522 to 13. The lower chamber had to reach a two-thirds majority - or 434 votes in the 650-seat lower chamber of parliament - to pass the vote. Under existing legislation, British elections have a five-year fixed term and the 2020 date could only be changed with a two-thirds majority.
Of the 522 MPs who voted in favor, 325 (out of 330) were Conservative, 174 (of 229) were Labour, 8 (of 9) were Lib Dems, 3 Plaid Cymru (Welsh nationalists), 1 from the Greens and from 8 Democratic Unionists (DUP) and 3 from fellow Northern Irish party the UUP (Ulster Unionists). Many Labour MPs chose to abstain.
Parliament will now hold its last session on May 2 and the campaign will begin on May 3, with the election taking place on June 8.
May said the vote would strengthen her hand against domestic critics seeking to "frustrate the process" of leaving the EU, which formally began last month.
"I will be asking the British people for a mandate to complete Brexit and to make a success of it," May said, to cheers from Conservative MPs sitting behind her.
Who's who in the UK snap election
UK Prime Minister May has called for a general election to take place on June 8, framing it as vote to counter the opposition's political road-blocking on Brexit. DW lays out the major players, parties and positions.
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May calls voters to the polls
On April 18, British Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early general election, bumping it up from 2020. British voters are set to cast their ballots for the House of Commons' 650 seats on June 8. Brexit will likely dominate the campaign agenda, with many perceiving the election as a vote on May's Brexit leadership.
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Reason to be happy
Though May had previously denied she would call for an early ballot, she argued snap elections were now necessary to counter the opposition's "political game-playing" on the UK's departure from the European Union (EU). For May, who took office after David Cameron resigned in the wake of the Brexit referendum, the vote marks her first attempt to secure a popular mandate.
Image: Reuters/N. Hall
Conservatives stand to profit
With the opposition at its weakest position in years, the early election will likely prove a major boon to the Tories, allowing them to comfortably expand their current 17-seat majority in the House of Commons. Overall, the Conservatives have backed May's leadership as she steers the UK towards a hard Brexit, which includes removing the country from the European single market.
Image: Reuters/N. Hall
Jeremy Corbyn on board
Embattled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced his support of May's call for snap elections. He will attempt to position his party as an "effective alternative" to the Tories. Corbyn, a traditional labourist, will campaign on reversing government austerity, nationalizing railways, and investing in wages, all while steering clear of Brexit so as to not alienate the party's pro-leavers.
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Battles within the Labour party
Analysts predict few election gains for Labour, however, as Corbyn's Old Labour policies and refusal to bend to backbench opposition have split the party. Some Labour MPs challenged his support of snap election, and Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop said he would not stand for re-election due to "irreconcilable differences" with Corbyn.
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Farron seeks strong stance
Tim Farron, current leader of the Liberal Democrats said that, "only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority." After the party's coalition with the Conservatives under Cameron, the Lib Dems were smashed in 2015 national elections, receiving only nine seats. For Farron, the snap election will be a chance for him to significantly build up his party's representation in parliament.
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The "real opposition"
The pro-EU and economically liberal party also used May's announcement to call for a second Brexit referendum. In terms of the June elections, the Lib Dems could benefit from disaffected pro-EU Labour voters and those who seek a "soft Brexit" that would keep the UK in the European single market. According to the party, 1,000 people registered as Lib Dems just after May's announcement.
Trouble brewing in the north
Like the Lib Dems' Farron, first minister of the Scottish government and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon clearly positioned herself against May, describing the Prime Minister's move as a "huge political miscalculation." May and Sturgeon have been a loggerheads over whether or not a second Scottish referendum can go forward before Brexit comes into effect.
Image: Reuters/R. Cheyne
Support for independence?
The SNP already holds 54 of Scotland's allotted 59 MP seats, leaving little room for gain. However, the party is also unlikely to lose seats as their support has stayed steady. A majority of Scots voted to remain in the EU, meaning that Sturgeon could frame the election as both a call to Downing Street to consider a "soft Brexit" option and to consult the devolved nations in exit negotiations.
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UKIP slips into the shadows
Despite being a major player in the campaign to take the UK out of the EU, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) currently has just one seat in parliament. However, the Euroskeptic party still has a support base, and leader Paul Nuttall will seek to paint May as a political opportunist. Yet this will not likely translate into seats as many former UKIP voters have joined May's "hard Brexit" bandwagon.
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Bumper year of elections
Other parties currently holding Commons' seats include the Greens (one), Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (eight) and Sinn Fein (four), as well as Wales' Plaid Cymru (three). The June 8 election date places the UK's national election between that of France (April/May) and Germany (September), meaning parliamentary chambers on both sides of the channel may be in for a shake up.
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May stunned the country on Tuesday when she announced plans to call the snap election, having repeatedly said she would wait until the next vote scheduled in 2020.
May is seeking to increase her majority of 17 in the lower house before the battles begin with the EU over Britain's exit bill and future trade and immigration ties.
"I believe that at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster not division," May told parliament in the pre-vote debate. "That's why it is the right and responsible thing for all of us here today to vote for a general election."
"What do we know that the leader of the Labour Party, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the leader of the Scottish nationalists have in common?" May asked parliament. "They want to unite together to divide our country and we will not let them do it."
Opposition heading for electoral oblivion?
Three weekend opinion polls put the Conservatives about 20 points ahead of Labour.
Labour's stance on Brexit has been to allow the government to go ahead with the EU divorce, but only under certain conditions, such as retaining strong economic ties with the bloc.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said at Prime Minister's questions - parliament's weekly chance to grill the PM - that this was a government of "broken promises" on health, education and the economy during its seven years in office. He did not explicitly address the issue of Europe, but did repeatedly challenge May to face her rivals in a televised debate.
Corbyn: Theresa May cannot be trusted
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Tim Farron, the leader of the third largest party, the Lib Dems, said May was calling an election now because, "having looked at the state of Labour, she could not resist the political equivalent of taking candy from a baby."
Asked if he would rule out a coalition with the Conservatives, Farron refuses to answer directly. He said he did not expect the election to result in a "balanced parliament."
The Scottish National Party (SNP), which holds most of the seats in Scotland, is pushing its demands for a second referendum on independence in order to maintain close ties with the EU.
Angus Robertson, the SNP's leader at Westminster, said there were two reasons why May is holding an election. First, he said May wanted to eliminate opposition at Westminster and, second, it had finally dawned on her how difficult it would be to get a Brexit deal.
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said later on Wednesday that success for the SNP on June 8 would make it impossible for May to stop a new referendum on Scottish independence.
"If the SNP wins this election in Scotland and the Tories (Conservatives) don't, then Theresa May's attempt to block our mandate to give the people of Scotland a choice over their own future when the time is right will crumble to dust," Sturgeon told reporters in London.
The Scottish parliament backed Sturgeon's bid in March to hold a new referendum in 2018 or 2019, but May rejected the proposal.
