After addressing a rowdy session of the House of Commons, Ms May won the support of 522 lawmakers in the 650-seat parliament for an election on June 8, an easy victory for the prime minister who could see her majority increase by at least 100 seats in the poll. There were also a number of abstentions.
May told The Sun newspaper that if Britain were still negotiating with the bloc in the run-up to a national election, "the Europeans might have seen that as a time of weakness when they could push us".
There was never any real doubt about Mrs May securing the backing to go to the country, with both Labour's Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat Tim Farron saying they welcomed the election - though Scottish National Party MPs abstained in the vote. "I will be asking for the British people for a mandate to complete Brexit and make a success of it".
George Osborne is to step down as an MP to focus on his new role as editor of the London Evening Standard.
AFTER yesterday's surprise move by Prime Minister Theresa May to call a general election, political leaders here have been reacting to the prospect of a fourth visit to the polls in just over a year.
Mrs May told MPs: "There are three things a country needs, a strong economy, strong defence and strong, stable leadership". The other big projected winners are the Liberal Democrats, who are expected to win over four times as many seats as they did in 2015.
The subsequent fallout has, perhaps understably, massively overshadowed the upcoming county council elections, but separating national and local politics could be a boost for prospective Labour councillors pounding the streets in an effort to win crucial votes over the next fortnight. "That is a bit of camouflage, and a bit of cover for the decision, because if all her MPs were united behind her she would have a majority of 12 no matter what any other party did", he said during the Loud & Clear broadcast.
After a body-pounding inning, Cardinals' Piscotty is fine
Lugo last pitched March 27, allowing four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings during an exhibition game against Washington. Just a day after signing a 6-year, $33.5 million extension, Stephen Piscotty was earning his money the hard way.
The parliamentary election comes less than a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, and will likely be dominated by the political and economic upheaval spawned by Brexit.
Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
A former Lib Dem deputy leader and minister of state for justice and civil liberties in the coalition government, Sir Simon Hughes said he intends to be the party's candidate to fight the Bermondsey and Old Southwark seat in south London, which he lost in 2015.
Tusk issued a set of draft guidelines late last month rejecting May's call for talks on the terms of the divorce bill and on a future trade deal in parallel during the two years of negotiations ahead of Britain's exit in March 2019.
"That would be in nobody's interest", May said.
"Instead of focusing on her day job the Prime Minister has irresponsibly called a General Election set to impede the work of Parliament and put a spanner in the works for Brexit talks with European Union counterparts".
He added: "She could also become more unbending; we don't know".
