UK may face general election as brexit clock runs down
Both major UK parties appear to be making preparations for a general election in the face of Boris Johnson’s controversial decision to suspend parliament last week.
With little time now available to MPs to pass a bill that would prevent a no-deal Brexit, the opposition’s only alternative is a vote of no-confidence to overthrow Johnson’s government, in hopes that a new election would bring new leadership prior to October 31 and convince the EU to allow a further extension to the Brexit deadline.
Within the Labour party, former leader Tony Blair called for avoiding a general election out of fear of the Tories gaining ground due to current leader Jeremy Corbyn’s unpopularity.
Blair proposed pursuing a second referendum on the Brexit question instead, but Corbyn has rejected this proposal.
On the Tory side, however, Boris Johnson’s attitude towards Tory backbenchers who have been riled by his proroguing of Parliament suggests that he, too, intends to provoke an early election.
Johnson cancelled a Monday meeting with his own party’s rebels, and a lack of any activity within the government to close ranks against a no-confidence vote suggests that said vote may be Johnson’s desired outcome.
A new election so close to the Brexit deadline would necessarily conflate two issues, that of no-deal Brexit and that of an opposition which has failed to provide a clear plan of their own to avoid it.
While Corbyn’s Labour may hope to oust the Tories as the party in power and negotiate with the EU on their own terms, Johnson may intend to oust or sideline his own party’s pro-Remain and anti-no-deal faction while still thinking to gain seats overall, as Corbyn’s popularity in polls has remained below that of the Tories despite all manner of Brexit setbacks.
The Tory party’s current majority of only one MP, and dependence on the Northern Irish DUP, starkly limits their ability to pass legislation, and eliminating some of those constraints is possibly enough of a potential gain for Boris Johnson to allow a vote of no confidence in his own government to slip through.
