Snap UK General Election

British Prime Minister Theresa May has just announced that there will be a general election on the 8th June. The suspicion is that the Torys will gain seats, but it could go wrong if people vote against brexit by voting against them.

Any thoughts?

 

Wait, so you guys can just have elections whenever you want?

 

If they want to vote against Brexit who do they vote for - not Corbyn. Lib Dems? Do they have the depth to take these seats.

 

The UK brought in fixed term parliaments recently- she has to get around this by asking Labour to support the snap election in a vote tomorrow.

 

So it will be charade with mps trying again to oust Corbyn, regardless of costing them seats? How does that work? Those well-healed mps may succeed in ousting Corbyn but lose their seat in the process

 

There's fixed 5 year terms but a 2/3 majority vote in the House of Commons can trigger one any time (as can a failure to form a government).

As for the decision to call one now, it makes sense. May's administration has been a absolute mess but Labour (the main opposition) are in an even worse state, seemingly dead set on recreating what happened to them in the 80s, and no-one has heard anything about the Lib Dems since the end of the coalition.

 

So why is May pushing for this snap election? What is it she is hoping to achieve with this?

 

The Queen has to approve a request to dissolve parliament before it can happen, I'm not sure if she can just dissolve it on her own. She can theoretically dismiss the PM though.

Because the Opposition is utterly useless at the present, she can likely increase her majority and get another 5 years of unobstructed Tory rule.

 

She has a small majority now - she reckons that Labour are weak and that she will get a bigger majority and that the opposition in parliament will be significantly weakened.

 

Probably getting a few more seats, if election happens, and triggering another Labour party succession crisis which either makes them again into blairites or causes them to go the more left way.

 

So it's basically an attempt to consolidate more power for her party then?

 

^There doesn't seem to be any other reason, really.

 

If she was a decent person, she might be trying to gain an actual mandate for herself and her policies - neither of which have been put before the electorate (legally there's no need to, but there's a sense amongst many people that morally she should) - but she's a Tory so naked power grab is much more likely.

 

This is my opinion too, and she will likely succeed.

But I think it is less to do with getting one over on Labour,
and more to do with overcoming persistent Remoaner drag.

Taking nine months merely to send a letter was not a good omen.

While she no doubt expects opposition from the other parties in Parliament and the rebellious Scots,
her experience of persistent opposition from three areas: the judiciary, the House of Lords and in
particular from within her own Conservative party too; has probably led her to very reasonably anticipate
more opposition to come, and rather than look forward to swimming through the treacle swamp;
she has, I suspect, now decided that it is best to raise the issue to a back us or sack us level.

 

According to the article on CBC, there are still 3 years left before an election has to be called. This could backfire in a major way, if the British electorate are anything like the Canadian electorate. We tend to have reactions at such obvious attempts at grabbing power.

It used to be that way in Canada, but Harper brought in fixed terms. However, that doesn't do away with non-confidence votes. The government will still fall if a budget is defeated, for example.

Yes.

Any decent Prime Minister who inherits the job from a former leader should call an election and get their own mandate. But it needs to be carefully timed to not be too soon, and not so late that the people get the sense that he/she is afraid to face the voters.

 

There is a certain amount of risk for May - she might take seats from Labour but loose them to the Lib Dems leaving her not much better off.

She is gambling that she is popular now that she should lock it in rather than wait another three years when the future is much less clear.