General Election called
The Prime Minister Teresa May has called for a General Election to take place on June 8th. The snap election has been proposed to try and get a bigger majority for the Government ahead of the Brexit negotiation. I say “proposed” and “try” as Prime Ministers can no longer call snap elections on a whim as they could in days gone by. Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act of 2011 a Prime Minister cannot call a snap election without the support of Parliament. Parliament must sit in fixed in terms of 5 years unless two thirds of MPs vote in favour of calling an election sooner.
However under current circumstances it is hard to see MPs from the opposition voting against a snap election on June 8th. To do so would look like an admission of weakness. But at the very least it promises to be an interesting week in Westminster.
In the meantime it is important to stress that the County Council elections go ahead as planned. The elections will still take place on the 4th May and are arguably still as important to Somerset as anything going on down in the Westminster Village!