The next general election was set for 2020, but the Fixed Term Parliaments Act allows for one to be held earlier if it has the support of two-thirds of MPs. There were also a number of abstentions.
"A general election is the best way to strengthen Britain's hand in the Brexit negotiations ahead".
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.
Following the election decision, the parliament will be dissolved on May 2.
May required the support of two-thirds of the Commons to pass the motion, and achieved it comfortably with the backing of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs. "Following their conversation, the president considers that the real political negotiations on Article 50 with the United Kingdom will start after the elections foreseen for the 8th of June", the spokesman said, referring to the European Union treaty rule that regulates the exit of a member state from the bloc.
A European Commission spokesman said the "real political" negotiations on Brexit will start after the election.
Her final decision was taken during a walking holiday in Snowdonia with her husband Philip and she told the Queen on Easter Monday before getting the full approval of Cabinet on Tuesday morning.
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All sides are now gearing up for the fourth major election in four years, after last June's shock referendum vote for Brexit, the 2015 general election, and the 2014 Scottish independence vote.
Government spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer said Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone Tuesday with British Prime Minister Theresa May. She cited the need for "strong leadership" in order to get the best possible deal in the Brexit negotiations and to steer the United Kingdom in the right direction thereafter.
He said: "I think she had little choice because so many parliamentarians have not accepted the referendum result and are seeking to reduce her ability to secure a good deal for Britain - and really I think in the hope of forcing a change of mind from the British public".
Elmar Brok, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats, told Germany's ARD television Wednesday that May could derive from a new, stronger mandate an "ability to compromise". After May passionately defended the Conservatives' policies, Corbyn responded: "If she's so proud of her record, why won't she debate it?" "I hope the former will be the case".
Riding high in the opinion polls, May is seeking to increase her slim majority of 17 in the 650-seat Commons before the battles begin with the European Union over Britain's exit bill and future trade and immigration ties. He added: "If it isn't a triumphant success, it will be to some extent a personal failure".
The region's MPs unanimously backed the Prime Minister in her successful bid to force an early general election.
Mrs May insisted an early election would provide "certainty and stability" in the negotiations. "They want to unite together to divide our country, and we will not let them do it", she said.
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