After the shock Brexit referendum outcome, the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, resigned. He had held office from 2010 until the summer of 2016, initially in coalition with the LiberalDemocrats and since 2015, in his own right. One key piece of legislation passed during his tenure was the fixed term parliament act which was designed to ensure that an elected government held power for a full five year term; to prevent (say…) a junior coalition partner from blackmailing the government by threatening to force an early election; and to curtail the power of a sitting PM to cut and run when the polls look good. Guess what?

Theresa May took over from Cameron last summer when a contest for the Tory party leadership fizzled out with the withdrawal of her opponent, leaving Mrs May as (unelected) party leader and PM. In the aftermath of the Brexit vote, Mrs May was adamant that she would not call an early election and that she had the mandate to govern and “deliver” Brexit which she opaquely determined meant, well, Brexit. Her party had an overall commons majority of 12 and could count on a further six votes from Ulster Unionist MPs. She was able to steer the Article 50 enabling bill through both houses of parliament without any amendments being attached to it and served Britain’s notice to leave the EU on 29th March.

Despite at least 11 public declarations which emphatically ruled out an early general election or a second referendum on the terms of any EU-UK deal, Mrs May shocked the nation and political observers yesterday by announcing her intention to call a general election for June 8th, claiming that whilst the nation is coming together behind Brexit (frankly, a delusional statement) the opposition in the Commons and the Lords were out to block the process which is, after all, their function to some extent. Therefore, she would seek a 2/3 majority in the Commons for a dissolution of parliament (today) and hold the fresh elections that she had steadfastly ruled out as being both unnecessary and a distraction.