UK's May Says Early Election Averts Clash with End of Brexit Talks
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that holding an early election on June 8 rather than waiting until 2020 would avert a situation where she would face a crunch time in EU talks and a domestic election at the same time.
Under the planned timetable, Britain is expected to formally leave the European Union in March 2019. The early election in June means May will not have to face the voters again until 2022, giving her a wider margin of manoeuvre at the tail end of the Brexit talks.
"If you look at the timetable, had the election been in 2020 we would have been coming up to the most crucial part of the negotiations, at the end of the negotiations, in what would be starting to be the run-up to a general election," May said, Reuters reported.
Theresa May stunned the UK political world on Tuesday by calling for an early general election, seeking a stronger mandate in talks over leaving the European Union.
In an unexpected statement at Downing Street, May said she was seeking a vote on June 8, less than halfway through the government's five-year term.
Opposition parties said they would not block the move, sending Westminster into full-throttle election mode.