Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister, Theresa May has called a snap general election on 8 June.
The Prime Minister said Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum. Explaining the decision, the Prime Minister said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not." There will be a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday to approve the election plan - the prime minister needs two thirds of MPs to vote in favour to hold a vote before the next scheduled election date of 2020. Explaining her decision to call an early election: "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election." "So we need a general election and we need one now. 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. Since I became prime minister I've said there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and security for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions we must take." In a statement outside Number 10, the Prime Minister said Labour had threatened to vote against the final Brexit agreement, the Liberal Democrats had stated they wanted to "grind the business of government to a standstill", the SNP have said they would vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the EU - and "unelected" members of the House of Lords had vowed "to fight us every step of the way". "If we don't hold a general election now, their political game-playing will continue and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run up to the next scheduled election," she said.