LONDON (REUTERS) - Prime Minister Theresa May called on parliament to back her demand for an early election on Wednesday (April 19), saying the vote was a chance to heal divisions in Britain before starting divorce talks with the European Union.
May surprised allies and opponents on Tuesday when she announced her plan to bring forward an election that was not due until 2020, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in the negotiations which will reshape Britain and Europe.
Addressing a rowdy parliament, she said moving the election would avoid a clash of priorities in the most sensitive final stages of the two-year talks, ignoring criticism from opposition politicians that she was opportunistic and untrustworthy.
"I believe that at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, not division," May told parliament.
"That's why it is the right and responsible thing for all of us here today to vote for a general election."
To hold a new election on June 8, May needs to win the backing of more than two-thirds of parliament in a vote that is due to take place around 1330 GMT (9.30pm Singapore) - a target she should comfortably win after the main opposition Labour Party it would back her.
The former interior minister, who became prime minister without an election when her predecessor David Cameron quit after last year's referendum vote for Brexit, enjoys a runaway lead over Labour in opinion polls.
With the British economy so far defying predictions of a slowdown and instead showing stronger growth than expected, experts predict her ruling Conservative Party could win around 100 more seats.
That would give May a powerful mandate extending until 2022, long enough to cover the Brexit negotiations plus a possible transition period into new trading arrangements with the EU - a prospect that has strengthened the pound.
The Sun, Britain's top-selling newspaper, splashed the headline "Blue Murder" - a reference to the Conservatives'colour branding and the prospect of Labour losing dozens of seats.
RELUCTANT
May formally notified the EU on March 29 of Britain's intention to leave, and has said she is confident of reaching a deal on the terms of withdrawal in the two years available.
She said on Tuesday she had "reluctantly" come to the decision to call for an early election because of political division in Westminster, criticising opposition parties for trying to thwart her plans for leaving the EU.
"What do we know that the leader of the Labour Party, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the leader of the Scottish nationalists have in common?" she asked parliament. "They want to unite together to divide our country and we will not let them do it."
But for Scotland's first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, the move was a "huge political miscalculation" that could help the Scottish National Party's efforts to hold an independence vote. "If the SNP wins this election in Scotland and the Tories (Conservatives) don't, then Theresa May's attempt to block our mandate to give the people of Scotland a choice over their own future when the time is right will crumble to dust," said Sturgeon, who heads Scotland's devolved government.
May, who has described herself as "not a showy politician", also said she would not take part in television debates before the election, preferring to talk directly to voters.
"I will be debating these issues publicly across the country," she told parliament. "We will be taking a proud record of a Conservative government, but more than that we will taking our plans for the future of this country."
