Prime Minister announces 8 June snap general election
18 April 2017
The Prime Minister gave a speech outside Number 10 today, saying she had just chaired a meeting of the cabinet, where they agreed that the government should call a general election, to be held on 8 June.
The PM went on to say that at this moment of enormous national significance (leaving the EU) there should be unity in Westminster, but instead there is division. The country is coming together, but Westminster is not. The PM also said that this is the right approach and it is in the national interest, but the other political parties oppose it.
Theresa May said,
"If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue, and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election. Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. So we need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.”
Tomorrow the PM will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on 8 June which will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.
You can read the statement that Theresa May made, in full, on BBC News.