It’s a Christmas election.
The House of Commons has passed a bill this evening calling for a general election on 12 December. The vote passed with emphatic approval across parties, with a margin of 438 to 20.
After an intense day of voting in Westminster, attempts to change the date of the election, a failed attempt to extend franchise to 16 and 17 year olds, and a failed attempt to extend franchise to EU nationals, it was finally settled that the election would be held in under two months.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party got on board with calls for a December election after the Brexit deadline was officially extended until 31 January, thereby forestalling a no-deal Brexit outcome.
Speaking tonight, opposition leader Corbyn said: “This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country and take on the vested interests holding people back.
“The choice at this election could not be clearer: A Labour government will be on your side; while Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, who think they’re born to rule, will only look after the privileged few.
“We will now launch the most ambitious and radical campaign for real change that our country has ever seen. This is our chance to build a country for the many not the few and fit for the next generation.”
As things stand, no party has a majority in Parliament, with the Tories supported in a confidence and supply arrangement that has recently broken down.
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