Vocal Voices

Could one happen once A50 is triggered?

There have been calls from various places and I have read some good articles arguing for.

May appears to be popular with the public. The Tories are way ahead in the polls. She could silence he 60 or so rebels. An election now would reduce Labour to a rump. She only has a slim majority when the Brexit negotiations start so an election would give her a thumping majority and put her firmly in the driving seat.

It would require repeal of the Fixed Term Parliament Act, but that should be no problem as many MPs feel it ties them (in government) down too much.The many positives and few negatives must make it very tempting.

Theresa May is intrinsically cautious. I think there is a concern that a 2017 election could cause a Labour implosion, the removal of Corbyn, and the emergence of a much more threatening centralist-left party from the ruins ...

TheOstrich wrote:I think there is a concern that a 2017 election could cause a Labour implosion, the removal of Corbyn, and the emergence of a much more threatening centralist-left party from the ruins ...

That is likely to happen anyway.

So why not go for a GE now when Labour is in a mess and before it regroups?

It must be very tempting.

It would be a risk but one worth taking from a Tory point of view. It seems likely that the Conservative majority would rise and put TM in a stronger position re Brexit and the Bide-a-Wee rest home known as the House of Lords.

She needs a vote from 60% of the house to break the current parliament. Because of what it would do to Labour, I would expect most of them to vote to retain the current parliament. Although there may be enough left who hate Corby to hope that a centre left Labour might evolve form the Corbyn bonfire to swing it.

I doubt that any of the minor parties, except UKIP, would welcome an election now with an eventual dominant Tory Party to emerge from it.

Can't see it unless she forces a vote of no confidence.

My MP (LibDem) tells me that there is now not much love for fixed term parliaments. Our unwritten constitution allows for all sorts of flexibility and a lot of that has been removed with the introduction of fixed terms.

It might not get repealed in the short term, but it might not last that long either.

Workingman wrote:It might not get repealed in the short term, but it might not last that long either.

True, but, sadly, we are where we are today.