General election: UK Parliament approves Theresa May's snap vote

Then yesterday, after the Easter bank holiday, she called a snap general election for June 8 of this year.

May said on Tuesday she had been reluctant to bring forward an election that was scheduled to take place in 2020, but had decided it was necessary to stop the opposition jeopardising her work on Brexit.

In a reversal of her earlier position that Parliament should remain in place until 2020, May said she "reluctantly" chose to approach lawmakers for an early national poll on June 8 in order to put to rest "the risks of uncertainty and instability. and to continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands".

Opening a Commons debate on the election motion the Prime Minister told MPs it was time to "put our fate in the hands of the people and let the people decide" and that her party would provide "strong and stable leadership in the national interest".

The result easily surpasses the two-thirds majority of the 650 lawmakers needed to trigger an early vote.

May's Conservative Party holds a slim majority in Parliament's lower House of Commons and May is banking on gaining a greater share of the seats to make Brexit a smoother transition for her government.

The decision means Britain will once again head to the polls on 8 June for the second general election in two years. The Scottish National Party abstained from voting on the motion, but it was backed by most Labour politicians and the Liberal Democrats.

Initially, EU officials had said that the talks could start in late May once a detailed negotiating mandate had been agreed among the EU's 27 other members.

May has repeatedly said she does not want to be distracted by time-consuming campaigning - but opinion polls give her a strong lead, the economy is weathering the Brexit vote and she has faced opposition from her own party for some of her domestic reforms.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set the tone for his campaign by criticizing May for her "broken promises" on healthcare and education, and jabbed at her for not agreeing to take part in television debates before the election.

It had been hoped talks could start by the end of that month, but EU Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Wednesday that "the real political negotiations" with Britain would not start till after the June 8 election. "It's about ... getting the right deal from Europe".

European Union officials say Britain's surprise election will not interrupt the bloc's preparations for Brexit talks - though they will slightly delay the start of negotiations.

May is seeking a general election in order to give her a direct mandate to take the United Kingdom through the Brexit divorce with the European Union.

An early ballot will give the next leader more time to implement Brexit before another election.

Theresa May, the British Conservative prime minister, is a hard read. TV debates don't have a long history in British politics, but were a feature of the last two elections, in 2010 and 2015.

But Corbyn said the Prime Minister's U-turn showed she could not be trusted to run the country.