British PM Theresa May calls for snap election in June

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British PM Theresa May planning another UK general election

Reaction from Fox Business' Stuart Varney

In a shocking announcement, England’s Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early general election on Tuesday to seek a strong mandate as she negotiates Britain’s exit from the European Union.

It would be held on June 8 – two years after the last vote and three years before the next scheduled date in May 2020. May said she would ask the House of Commons on Wednesday to back her call for an election.

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According to The Sun, May is taking advantage that polls put her Conservative Party about 20 points clear of the Labour party.

Standing outside 10 Downing Street in London, the Prime Minister said she thought another election was the “only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead.”

She said that since Britons voted to leave the EU in June, the country had come together, but politicians had not. She said the political divisions “risk our ability to make a success of Brexit.”

“The country is coming together but Westminster is not,” May said, according to The Sun.

She added: “Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.”

At present, the Conservatives have a small majority, with 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons. May said that “our opponents believe that because the government’s majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course” on leaving the EU.

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“They are wrong,” she said. “They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.”

May triggered a two-year countdown to Britain's exit from the EU last month, and negotiations to settle divorce terms and agree on a new relationship are expected to start within weeks.

May said that if there is not an election soon, "the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election."

Under Britain's Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, elections are held every five years, but the prime minister can call a snap election if two-thirds of lawmakers vote for it.

The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he welcomed May's decision "to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first."

"We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain," he said.

May took office in July after predecessor David Cameron stepped down following his failed attempt to get voters to back remaining in the EU. Since then she has repeatedly ruled out calling an early election to get her own mandate. But she said Tuesday she had "reluctantly" changed her mind.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.