Without Jeremy Corbyn, Labour would be languishing, says Diane Abbott

In a later statement Nuttall said that May's move was a "cynical decision driven more by the weakness of Corbyn's Labour Party than the good of the country".

But following a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street she said she would go to the country this year.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is planning to call a general election for Thursday, June 8. It's likely in the 20 bills coming up that about three quarters will be Brexit-related, so you can understand she wants to have a mandate and a larger majority.

It was one of those "Where-were-you-when" moments... just after 11 this morning, the Prime Minister stood on the steps of Number 10 and called a snap election for 8 June.

"The election should hand Theresa May a much bigger mandate to stand up to the harder-line, anti-EU backbenchers who now hold a disproportionate sway over her party's stance on Brexit", said Aberdeen Asset Management investment manager Luke Bartholemew.

She added: "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election". A victory would offer some protection if Britain's economy suffers as the reality of Brexit kicks in.

Standing outside her Downing Street office, May said she had been reluctant about asking parliament to back her move to bring forward the poll from 2020, but decided it was necessary to try to prevent opposition parties "jeopardising" her work on Brexit.

The prime minister's own personal ratings also dwarf those of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with 50 percent of those asked saying she would make the best prime minister.

The story on stock markets since the vote for Brexit last June has been more complicated and, for the past nine months, is the flipside of sterling's fortunes.

But he added: "It is also an opportunity for Labour to set out an inclusive, progressive and ambitious future for Britain".

Meanwhile Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, said her two years in Parliament have been the "the greatest honour" she could have wished for.

He said: "The people of Britain spoke very clearly at the referendum about our membership in the European Union and it's important the Prime Minister has a proper majority in the Commons to push through the will of the public".

A round of opinion polls over the Easter weekend showed that May's Conservative party enters the race well ahead of its rivals. Since then she has repeatedly ruled out calling an early election to get her own mandate.

He believes the Copeland by-election victory by the Conservatives, over-turning a Labour majority of more than 2,500 in an area that hasn't seen a Tory MP for more than 80 years, was the trigger to today's announcement.

Nicola Sturgeon has made it clear she wants to hold another independence referendum over Britain's exit from Europe, a decision ultimately that has to be sanctioned by the British prime minister. "The process of general election would strengthen her hand".