Now that his pledge to deliver Brexit “do or die” by the end of October has officially failed, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is hoping the public will help him get the Brexit win he so badly desires. The United Kingdom is now set to hold a general election on December 12, as Parliament’s House of Commons officially approved a general election Tuesday in a vote of 438-20. “There is only one way to get Brexit done in the face of this unrelenting parliamentary obstructionism, this endless, willful, fingers-crossed, ‘not me, guv’ refusal to deliver on the mandate of the people, and that is to refresh this Parliament and give the people a choice,” Johnson said Tuesday.
Parliament’s vote authorizing an election came as the governing body had previously already rejected a general election three times, including a failed election vote just one day before. But Johnson finally got good news the fourth time around, as the tide turned when the left-leaning Labour Party, facing pressure from other opposition parties like the pro-Remain Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party, dropped its opposition to the election. “I can’t wait to get out there on the streets,” Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Tuesday. “In every town and village in this country, Labour will be there, giving a message of real hope where this government offers nothing.” The opposition parties did not get everything they had hoped for with the election, though, as Parliament rejected a motion to change the election date from December 12 to a potentially more convenient December 9, which may have enabled more students to vote before leaving for their holiday break. Parliament’s House of Lords still has to clear the December 12 election, though it’s expected to pass Wednesday. Once the measure is officially through Parliament, Parliament will dissolve November 6 for five weeks of campaigning ahead of the December vote.
Now that he’s finally gotten his wish for a general election, which Johnson has been pushing for months, the prime minister will seek to get back a Conservative Party majority that will enable him to push through his Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Lawmakers have passed the agreement but refused to back Johnson’s motion to rush the 100,000-page agreement through in three days, causing Johnson to pause the bill rather than allow lawmakers to debate it and add amendments. The Conservatives will be running a Brexit-dominated campaign with the tagline “Get Brexit done,” appealing to the country’s voters who are sick of the endless delays. (The European Union granted British its latest extension Monday, pushing the Brexit deadline to January 31.) In a move to unify his party, Johnson also re-admitted 10 Tory lawmakers to the Conservative Party Tuesday, who he had previously expelled from the party for thwarting the P.M.’s efforts to force through a no-deal Brexit.
The Lib Dems, on the other hand, will be using the election to make their case as the pro-Remain party, which plans to cancel Brexit altogether. “This general election will decide the future of our country for generations. It is our best chance to elect a government to stop Brexit,” Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said in a statement. “The Liberal Democrats are the strongest party of Remain and will be standing on a manifesto to stop Brexit by revoking article 50.” Labour, for their part, will be mounting an “ambitious, radical campaign,” Corbyn said Tuesday, with a progressive platform that includes the Green New Deal. But with the election shaping up to ultimately be a referendum on Brexit, the party could suffer from its convoluted messaging on leaving the E.U., which has expressed reservations about Brexit without disavowing it. The party is currently calling for even more Brexit debate, suggesting that they would first negotiate and debate a new “Labour Brexit” with Europe before putting that deal to the people in a second referendum.