But he held out the prospect of a return to the political front line, saying he was leaving Westminster politics "for now".
The snap election caps a tumultuous few years in British politics that has seen two historic referendums-one on Brexit, one on Scottish independence-and a prime ministerial resignation.
May on Wednesday (19 April) returned to a tactic used by the Conservatives in the 2015 election, warning voters they faced a choice between her leadership or a Labour "coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn" and backed by the SNP and other parties.
The decision comes as a surprise to many because May previously said she would not call an early election as far back as September 2016.
May's Conservatives have 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons and are polling well ahead of Labour, the main Opposition party.
The director-general for Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Carolyn Fairbairn, urges businesses to look at each political party and its plans to support economic stability and prosperity over the next Parliament in a way that is fair and sustainable for communities across the UK.
Addressing MPs beforehand, May said an early vote would strengthen her hand in dealing both with Brussels and domestic critics seeking to "frustrate the process" of Brexit.
Farron says his party gives Britons "a chance to change the direction of your country. if you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit". The answer, as with pretty much everything in Britain right now, is Brexit.
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The dire economic situation led an opposition campaign to form past year and demand a referendum vote on Maduro's rule. The government also barred opposition leader Henrique Capriles from holding political office for the next 15 years.
Growth is faster than expected, consumer confidence is high and unemployment low, but the economy may be poised to pass its peak as consumers start to feel the strain from rising prices. The EU is making this a "red line" in negotiations.
Last month, May formally began the two-year divorce talks with the European Union and laid out her hope that her government can settle the exit terms alongside talks on what the new relationship with the European Union will be.
The impact of leaving the European Union on the vote is a "more complicated question", Curtice wrote in an article for the Sun newspaper.
In her radio interview, Ms May said that if she had not brought forward the date of the election, Brexit negotiations would have been coming to a head just as the Government was preparing to go to the polls. The DUP campaigned for Brexit during last year's referendum while Sinn Fein has vowed to run on an anti-Brexit platform in the general election.
Still, elections have a habit of delivering unexpected outcomes.
"That's what I have always believed in, it's what I still believe and I still do it - as prime minister, as a constituency MP, I still go out and knock on doors in my constituency".
The fate of May's predecessor, David Cameron, also holds out a potential warning for May. Instead, the British made a decision to leave in a vote that has roiled British politics ever since, starting with Cameron's resignation. Some have even said the reaction since May's announcement was overdone and liable to a reverse.
She said Brexit was one of the leading issues for voters in the town, which had a Lib Dem member of parliament for almost two decades until Maria Caulfield, a former nurse, narrowly won the seat for the Conservatives in 2015.
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