Boris Johnson calls for snap general election in October to prevent Brexit delay

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Boris Johnson

• Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls for an early general election in October after MPs vote for plan to delay Brexit.
• Johnson hopes to win a majority in order to overturn a bid by opposition parties to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
• The prime minister suffered a major defeat on Tuesday evening after MPs approved a plan which could see them pass a law designed to force him to seek a three month extension to Britain's Brexit deadline.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson has challenged opposition parties to back an early general election next month, in order to prevent a further delay to Brexit and take Britain out of the EU on October 31.

Members of parliament on Tuesday evening defeated Johnson's government on a motion paving the way for Brexit to be delayed until January 2020.

Rebel Conservative MPs joined with the opposition to back the plan, which is designed to prevent the UK leaving without a deal on the currently planned exit date of October 31.

In the aftermath of the vote, which could compel the prime minister to seek an extension from the EU, Johnson announced he would bring forward a motion demanding a new election in mid-October.

Read more: Boris Johnson loses his majority after Conservative MP Phillip Lee dramatically crosses floor to join the Liberal Democrats

Johnson on Tuesday lost his government's working majority after Conservative MP Philip Lee crossed the floor to join the opposition Liberal Democrat party.

He now hopes to win a majority which will enable him to overturn any new law brought in by parliament which is designed to delay Brexit.

However, the opposition Labour party suggested they would vote against any motion for an early election until the legislation compelling a delay to Brexit was secured.

"There won't be a general election called tomorrow because we're not going to vote for it because we have got to make sure that this legislation is embedded, signed off by the Queen, and there is no argument about it any more," the Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry told ITV.

She added: "We want a general election but we want this legislation done first."

Current opinion polls consistently put Johnson's Conservative party in the lead ahead of Labour.

However, polling expert John Curtice said the parties' current standing only gave Johnson a 50/50 chance of securing a majority.

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