Rather than later risk facing Labour under a new and potentially more popular leader, the Prime Minister chose to call the impromptu vote, even after months of giving reassurances she would not do so, sources inside Number 10 told The Financial Times. Theresa May hopes that these snap elections - to be held in 2020 - will boost their small majority in the Legislature and give a new mandate for new domestic reforms in education and health, in addition to strengthening her stance in negotiations with the EU.
Theresa May's decision to "reluctantly" call an early election marks her first major u-turn as prime minister.
The weeks since Britain invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on the European Union and triggered the two-year Brexit process have been marked by protests by Brexit opponents led by the Labor Party and Scottish executive Nicola Sturgeon.
Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
And she set out her line of attack against Labour, saying voters would face a choice between "stable and strong leadership, which I hope they have seen, and a coalition of Corbyn supported by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP".
"There has to be a way of ensuring that voters can put candidates for Parliament under sustained pressure to say whether they would vote against a deal which does not deliver the same benefits as we enjoy with the Single Market or against no deal if that transpires to be as damaging as many fear; and that they are prepared to hold the Government properly to account in the interests of the country", Blair said.
Other Labour MPs have expressed despair about the party's prospects, with many expecting significant losses.
There had been growing expectations the Labour leader would stand down after what was predicted to be a bad performance for the party in local elections on 4 May.
New airstrikes hit Syrian town targeted by chemical weapons
At least six people were killed, according to a Syrian Army statement, and a dozen military aircraft were destroyed by the salvo. Johnson said the situation in Syria has changed "fundamentally" following the chemical attack and the USA response.
And, no doubt, she remembers the experience of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who in 2007 also attained the top job by default, then remained hamstrung throughout his premiership by the public knowledge that he had yet to win an election.
In short, the decision by Theresa May to call a quick-snap election in June provides great political opportunism for her party.
The result easily surpasses the two-thirds majority of the 650 lawmakers needed to trigger an early vote.
May has told the House of Commons that holding a vote in June, rather than as scheduled in 2020, will give the country "certainty and stability" as it negotiates its departure from the European Union.
She explained that "division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit", and repeated the message whenever she was asked.
Parliament will vote Wednesday on holding a June 8 election.
May's office says she will speak after the weekly meeting of her Cabinet.
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