Theresa May shocks country as she reveals plan for snap General Election in dramatic U-turn
The Prime Minister insisted she needed the nation’s authority to push through her Brexit blueprint after claiming Parliament is trying to derail it
THERESA May yesterday stunned the country by insisting: “We need a general election and we need one now.”
In a shock U-turn and without any warning, the Prime Minister unveiled her plan for a nationwide poll on June 8.
From the steps of No10, she insisted she needed the nation’s authority to push through her Brexit blueprint after claiming Westminster is trying to derail it.
She said: “The country is coming together but Westminster is not.
“In recent weeks, Labour has threatened to vote against the deal we reach with the European Union.
“The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill.
“The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain’s membership of the European Union.
"And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
“Our opponents believe that because the Government’s majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course.
“They are wrong. They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.
“Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging instability to the country.
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“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.
“I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion.”
Just last month the PM had ruled out the idea of any early vote and insisted the next election would be in 2020 as planned.
Others said the action raised the possibility of far longer Brexit talks given there will no longer be a rush to seal an agreement before a 2020 vote.
But bookies immediately inserted the Conservatives as clear 1-7 favourites for a landslide victory in seven weeks’ time.
Mrs May will look to formally trigger the election today by asking two-thirds of MPs — 434 — to vote for Parliament to be dissolved as required under the Fixed Term Parliament Act.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday pledged his support for the decision.
And jubilant Lib Dem chief Tim Farron leapt on the chance to cash in on signs of a revival in his party’s fortunes, vowing to make the snap poll a vote on the referendum.
He urged voters to come back to his pro-EU party, left with just eight MPs after the 2015 election, saying: “This is your chance to change the direction of our country.”
SHIFT ON VOTE
PM Theresa May’s decision to call an early election was a surprise — after her repeated assertions that she would not call voters back before 2020.
Right at the start of her campaign to replace David Cameron as Tory leader, Mrs May said in June 2016: “There should be no general election until 2020.” In her first major interview after taking office, Mrs May told the BBC’s Andrew Marr, right, last September that the country needed stability post-Brexit. She said: “I’m not going to be calling a snap election. I’ve been very clear that I think we need that period of time, that stability, to be able to deal with the issues that the country is facing, and have that election in 2020.” As recently as March 20, Mrs May’s staff continued to rule out the possibility of an early election. Her official spokesman said: “There isn’t going to be one . . . it is not going to happen. “There is a Fixed Term Parliaments Act. We have been clear there isn’t going to be an early election and the Prime Minister is getting on with delivering the will of the British people.”
A snap ICM poll taken after the PM’s 11.06am election announcement gave the Tories a 21 point lead over Labour, as well as the party’s highest level of support since the 1992 General Election.
The survey put Mrs May’s party on 46 per cent, Labour on 25 per cent, the Lib Dems on 11 per cent and Ukip on just eight per cent.
And despite furious attacks by disgruntled Labour MPs, initial polls suggested voters overwhelmingly believe Theresa May was right to call an early election.
Some 49 per cent of more than 3,500 voters questioned by YouGov said the early poll was the right thing to do. Mrs May delivered the bombshell after briefing the Cabinet on her plan.
Only a handful of her most trusted aides were in on it, and almost none of her top table knew.
Immediately after the morning meeting the PM’s official spokesman said: “She got the full backing of her Cabinet colleagues”.
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And last night Tory MPs banged tables and cheered “five more years” as Theresa May addressed them in private in Westminster.
Sources claimed the PM said the Tories needed to prove “the country is behind us”.
One said: “She said the party needs the best possible hand in Parliament and the best possible deal from Europe.”
She was given a standing ovation as she left. Asked how the meeting went she pointed back at the room and said: “Listen to that.”
The move won the backing of her predecessor David Cameron, who called it “brave” as well as “the right decision”.
SNOWDON POLL STROLL
THE snap election decision was taken by the PM on a five-day walking holiday in Snowdonia with her husband.
Theresa and Philip May had been strolling in the North Wales foothills. She explained: “Before Easter, I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband, thought about this long and hard and came to the decision to have an election.”
Polling expert John Curtice added: “There is no doubt that the Conservatives are in a strong position in the opinion pols.
“That clearly would be enough to give Theresa May quite a substantial majority.
“There are divisions inside the Conservative Party (on Brexit).
“We’ll see how they survive a general election but the truth is the opposition is probably even more divided on the subject.”
Mrs May rang world leaders yesterday, including US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The EU Council’s president likened British politics after Brexit to a high-drama Hollywood film.
After speaking to Mrs May just after her announcement, Donald Tusk tweeted: “It was Hitchcock, who directed Brexit: first an earthquake and the tension rises.”
CAM'S GURU TO WIN BALLOT
POLITICAL strategy guru Sir Lynton Crosby has been brought in by Theresa May to run her campaign.
The 60-year-old Aussie was also at the helm of David Cameron’s shock victory in 2015. A senior No10 source told The Sun: “Lynton is on board, and we are delighted. He is the best in the business.” He is set to move into Tory HQ within days with his key aides.
Labour MP and Change Britain chairwoman Gisela Stuart said: “Unfortunately, there are many in Westminster who want to frustrate the will of the people by diluting or derailing the Brexit process.
“After June 8 we need a Parliament which will deliver on the referendum mandate to take back control of our laws, borders, money and trade.”
Brexit Secretary David Davis said an increased Tory majority would strengthen the Government’s hand in the forthcoming talks with the remaining EU 27 on the terms of Britain’s withdrawal.
He said: “Out in the country the vast majority of people want us to get on with it, whether they voted Remain or Leave.
“Our prime aim is to deliver on last year’s referendum result in the best possible interests of the whole country. To do that the Prime Minister has decided she needs a strong, new mandate.”