UK to go to the polls on December 12th in a bid to overcome the last hurdle on the way to Brexit

MPS have voted in favour of Boris Johnson’s decision to call an election on December 12th.

The Bill will now go to the House of Lords for its first reading.

Johnson’s Conservative Party, polling at 37 percent, has a comfortable 13 percentage point lead over the Labour Party. On those kinds of numbers, the Tories might expect a comfortable majority — enough to pass the Brexit deal the government negotiated with the EU earlier this month.

The trouble for the Tories is that support in the polls today doesn’t necessarily translate to votes in December. Whether the party can maintain its lead in the next five weeks — and how that lead will translate into seats — is far from certain.

Earlier the Commons voted by 315 to 295 to reject a Labour amendment for the election to be held on Monday December 9 – three days earlier than ministers wanted.

Earlier the December general election has come a big step closer after amendments to give the vote to 16-year-olds and EU nationals were not selected for debate by the House of Commons deputy speaker.

A bill to force an election on December 12 was waved through by the Speaker of the House John Bercow after it became clear MPs would vote for it.

Legislators have given approval to hold a snap election — something they have thus far refused to do three times.

The second reading of the Early Parliamentary General Election Bill has been approved without division.

Before the vote Boris Johnson restored the Conservative whip to 10 of the 21 Tory MPs expelled last month for rebelling to stop a no-deal Brexit, including Churchill’s grandson Sir Nicholas Soames and former cabinet minister Greg Clark, a party spokesman has announced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wants an election to break the deadlock in parliament over Brexit.

Earlier, outgoing EU Council President Warner that the latest Brexit delay to 31 January 2020 “may be the last one”.

Donald Tusk, who is stepping down as EU Council president at the end of November, intervened as MPs were discussing the pre-Christmas election.

What’s in a date?

The prime minister wanted an election on Thursday 12 December, with a possible compromise date of 11 December. He originally proposed 12 December, which would have allowed a few more days for MPs to debate his withdrawal agreement bill, and tabled a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.

That plan failed to win the backing of the required two-thirds of MPs in the House of Commons on Monday night, with Labour abstaining, but Johnson immediately announced he would table a one-line bill, again calling for a 12 December election.

Corbyn’s party has agonised about whether to support a pre-Christmas poll. The Labour leader has been keen to hit the campaign trail, but some members of the shadow cabinet were very reluctant.

Some had hoped a second referendum could have been secured first, while others would have liked to see Johnson’s Brexit deal debated and agreed, to allow Labour to focus on domestic policies during a campaign.

But Corbyn eventually prevailed and Labour will now back a December election.

The Lib Dems and the SNP proposed an election on Monday 9 December to ensure the government had no time to bring its Brexit deal back. They have also warned about the risk of students being disenfranchised.

The leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said the date was not realistic as 25 working days were needed between the dissolution of parliament and polling day. Parliament would have to be dissolved on Friday, while also securing royal assent for the election bill, and passing a Northern Irish budget bill, which could be very difficult.