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Various news outlets are reporting that the UK's prime minister, Theresa May, has called for a general election to be held on 8 June. The Conservative Party Web site has a transcript of her public statement, which can also be heard in a video.
The call for a snap election has now been backed by parliament.
May surprised allies and opponents [...] when she announced her plan to bring forward an election that was not due until 2020, saying she needed to avoid a clash of priorities in the sensitive final stages of the two-year Brexit talks.
After addressing a rowdy session of the House of Commons, May won the support of 522 lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament for an election on June 8. Only 13 voted against.
With May seen winning a new five-year mandate and boosting her majority in parliament by perhaps 100 seats, the pound held close to six-and-a-half month highs on hopes she may be able to clinch a smoother, more phased departure from the EU and minimise damage to the UK economy.
[...] The former interior minister, who became prime minister without an election when her predecessor David Cameron quit after last year's referendum vote for Brexit, enjoys a runaway lead over the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
This is a notable change from the position taken over the last few months where May had said after the EU referendum, a "period of stability" was needed. "There isn’t going to be one. It isn’t going to happen. There is not going to be a general election," said the prime minister's spokesman less than a month ago.
Coverage (many of these are editorials):
- The Sun
- New Statesman
- New Statesman
- The Independent
- The Independent
- The Guardian
- The Telegraph
- The New York Times
- The Irish Times
- BBC News
- Daily Mail
(Score: 2) by looorg on Monday April 24 2017, @02:12PM (6 children)
"This is a notable change from the position taken over the last few months where May had said after the EU referendum, a "period of stability" was needed. "There isn’t going to be one. It isn’t going to happen. There is not going to be a general election," said the prime minister's spokesman less than a month ago."
She did say those things but they are in somewhat stark contrast to the stability part, she is calling for the extra election to consolidate power and create stability since apparently the entire house is more or less in disarray.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday April 24 2017, @02:25PM
Theresa May with more power? Good luck, Soybrits.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday April 24 2017, @02:25PM (1 child)
Maybe she's right about the moment, but this is not without risks.
Current Aussie PM triggered last elections well in advance; he got a slimmer majority than he had in the house and a difficult senate.
The fact that his coalition is split, very much the same the Republicans in US are (conservatives and retrogr... errr. sorry... ultra-conservatives), doesn't help him either
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Interesting) by zocalo on Monday April 24 2017, @02:54PM
However, if there's one thing several recent elections have shown, it's that you can no longer rely on the expected outcome to actually be the final result. There's still a strong Remain sentiment (48% voted Remain, who have basically had their views sidelined ever since), some of the realities of Brexit are starting to sink in - not least that the drop in Sterling has made the average person on the street poorer while the rise in stocks has made the "Elites" richer than ever - plenty of people still hate the Conservatives, and there are additional complexities like the Scottish views on remaining in the EU vs. leaving the UK, the divisions in the Labour party, and the mess in Northern Ireland. I wouldn't be so sure that the Conservatives are going to get quite the overwhelming majority that they are no doubt hoping for and, while unlikely, could in fact end up on the receiving end of another electoral upset. I'm certainly not going to be putting too much stock in any of the polls this time around.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by isostatic on Monday April 24 2017, @04:18PM
The whole country is in disarray. She's hoping to boost her majority so she's less beholden to tory rebels. She'll get her hard brexit policies through thanks to backing by Labour, but it's the other stuff she wants to do (snoopers charter, sell of NHS, etc) that she needs more people for.
I'm really hoping it backfires, and she has to form a government of national unity with Labour.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Monday April 24 2017, @05:18PM
My guess is that the real goal is to maximize the time in between Brexit becoming a reality and the next time she's up for election. This means that during negotiations, she can safely sell out her constituents' interests to the EU, multinationals, and the City-based banks, and maximize the chance that voters will forget about that before the next election.
That said, I'd rather see the Monster Raving Loony Party in charge than the UK IP.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by n1 on Monday April 24 2017, @07:17PM
Things do change, political opportunities of the opposition being in an absolutely terrible position with no credibility or coherent message being the primary ones, but from the article I linked in TFS is a direct quote from September last year: