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UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

theguardian.com

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Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#31

Post by Silhouette »

She's announced her intention to call a general election.

Before it can actually happen, she needs 2/3s of MPs to agree, according to the Fixed Term Parliament Act. Otherwise, it's a five-year term whether the current PM likes it or not.

This is an odd one, because if we have the election then it's likely to be a Tory landslide, but the Tories have only a narrow majority in the House of Commons and so need the turkeys to vote for Christmas.

On the other hand, Labour is currently led by Jeremy Corbyn, so it's entirely possible that enough of the turkeys will vote for every day of the year to be Christmas.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#32

Post by louisswiss »

headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

It also negates the 'Theresa doesn't have a mandate, no one voted for her' argument.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#33

Post by headmelted »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #28
headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

I wonder (I'm not from UK), is there really zero chance of someone from Labour to challenge Corbyn (someone more moderate/center leaning) and rally the pro-EU voters ?

In the current timeframe, yes.

The only person who's trying to do that right now and is at all visible to the public eye is Tony Blair.. and there's just no way that's going to go over with the public.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#34

Post by blowski »

cm2187 wrote: post #30
louisswiss wrote: post #20

PM Theresa May on her reasoning for the snap election: "In recent weeks Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. "The Liberal Democrats said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. "The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. "And un-elected members of…

Calling an election is dark and scary times?

Democracy is about more than one party winning a popular vote.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#35

Post by lordnacho »

"Simple" explanation is this:

- May isn't going to lose to Corbyn

- May has a slim majority, meaning she has to negotiate with people within the Conservative Party who might not agree with her on the Brexit terms.

- She'll likely get a larger majority, so it makes it easier to deal with the rebels.

- For Corbyn, it's interesting. He might be facing another leadership challenge if polls keep looking crap.

- He wants to have an actual attempt at a GE, where he can make his case to the public.

- He won the leadership challenge last year, so he knows his fans are at least loyal for now.

- Why does Corbyn's opinion matter? Well back when Cameron did a deal with Clegg, they did a fixed terms act, meaning elections had to happen every 5 years. This one is within 5 years of the previous, so you actually need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to trigger it.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#36

Post by RugnirViking »

headmelted wrote: post #33
Kurtz79 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder (I'm not from UK), is there really zero chance of someone from Labour to challenge Corbyn (someone more moderate/center leaning) and rally the pro-EU voters ?

In the current timeframe, yes. The only person who's trying to do that right now and is at all visible to the public eye is Tony Blair.. and there's just no way that's going to go over with the public.

The thought of Tony Blair attempting this in vain is amusing to me. If it was literally anyone else...

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#37

Post by evgen »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #28
headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

I wonder (I'm not from UK), is there really zero chance of someone from Labour to challenge Corbyn (someone more moderate/center leaning) and rally the pro-EU voters ?

Nothing will happen in the short term, but the upcoming hammering that Labour will endure is probably going to be the catalyst for either a successful challenge or a final split between the populist far left in Labour and the urban Blairites.

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#38

Post by arethuza »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #28
headmelted wrote: post #16

Actually this is just good business for the Tories, and I've long expected it. The opposition is in disarray under Corbyn, and our prime minister has never won an election. This is as easy a victory as Theresa May will ever be able to bank on, and legitimises her leadership in the eyes of a large section of the public. She can also claim (maybe rightly so) that she has the undisputed majority support of the public fo…

I wonder (I'm not from UK), is there really zero chance of someone from Labour to challenge Corbyn (someone more moderate/center leaning) and rally the pro-EU voters ?

Pretty much, Corbyn has gathered a lot of grass roots support but will fail to appeal to the wider electorate. I suspect there is a good chance that Labour in the rest of the UK will implode after this election in the same way that it has collapsed in Scotland (although I'm not clear who voters would transfer their loyalties to as they have here in Scotland where the SNP now dominates).

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#39

Post by clearly »

talktime wrote: post #21
s_kilk wrote: post #5

May's reasoning is basically that there is an opposition now, and that there should not be. The thought of indefinite unopposed Tory rule is sickening.

The majority of the English like strong, essentially unopposed governance. They like be to be able to choose the g'vner occasionally, but they don't want multiple powerful factions.

Do we?

Re: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announces intention to hold general election

#40

Post by louisswiss »

cm2187 wrote: post #30
louisswiss wrote: post #20

PM Theresa May on her reasoning for the snap election: "In recent weeks Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. "The Liberal Democrats said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. "The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. "And un-elected members of…

Calling an election is dark and scary times?

No - but communicating to the public that the reason you are calling an election is to silence the opposition parties and other bodies holding you to account (and espousing the view that the opposition should effectively shut up and put up) definitely registers high on my dark and scary times scale
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