Prime Minister May Calls for Early General Election

British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she would be calling for a June 8, 2017, general election across the U.K., nearly two years earlier than originally planned. The Conservative party leader said she came to her decision reluctantly but determined it was the best path forward to ensuring the British government was unified as it negotiated its exit from the European Union as mandated by a 2016 voter referendum, also known as “Brexit.” Prime Minister May issued a challenge to opposition party leaders, saying they should lend support to her motion for the early election and make their case for different policies directly to voters. Her call for an early election would need two-thirds majority vote of the House of Commons to move forward. close