Theresa May seeks early election in U.K.

British Prime Minister Theresa May says she will seek an early election, for June 8, looking to bolster her Conservative Party's position as the country heads into talks to leave the European Union.

Division in Parliament "will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit," May told reporters Tuesday outside her official residence, 10 Downing Street, in London.

May said she had been reluctant to ask Parliament to back her move to bring forward the election from 2020. But after thinking "long and hard" during a walking holiday in Wales a few days before Easter, she decided it was necessary to try to stop the opposition "jeopardizing" her work on Brexit.

May is pursuing a "hard" exit from the EU — leaving its political union along with its common market and customs union — rather than one of several softer options that would maintain certain ties. 

MPs will be asked to vote for the election on Wednesday, she said.

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The proposed vote must win the support of two-thirds of Parliament to proceed. The last general election was held just two years ago.

Strong lead for May in opinion polls

Some were surprised by May's move — the Conservative prime minister has repeatedly said she does not want to be distracted by campaigning — but opinion polls give her a strong lead, and the British economy has so far defied predictions of a slowdown.

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 pound sterling rose to a four-month high against the U.S. dollar after the market bet that May would strengthen her parliamentary majority, which Deutsche Bank said would be a "game-changer" for the pound. But the stronger pound helped push Britain's main share index to close down 2.3 per cent, its biggest one-day loss since June 27, days after Britain voted to leave the EU.

"It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," May said.

The leaders of the opposition parties — including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the U.K. Independence Party — said they are ready to go to the polls. 

"Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered failing living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and [National Health Service,]" Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a statement.  

'Political miscalculation,' says Nicola Sturgeon

The Scottish National Party-led Scottish Parliament recently voted to hold a second referendum on independence from the U.K. Scots rejected the idea in 2014, but also voted to remain with the EU. The independence movement has seized the latter as justification for another referendum. 

"This move is a huge political miscalculation by the prime minister," Nicola Sturgeon, SNP leader and Scotland's first minister, said in a statement.

"It will once again give people the opportunity to reject the Tories' narrow, divisive agenda, as well as reinforcing the democratic mandate which already exists for giving the people of Scotland a choice on their future," she said.

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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 prime minister's own personal ratings also dwarf those of Corbyn, with 50 per cent of those asked saying she would make the best prime minister. Corbyn wins only 14 per cent, according to pollster YouGov.

If the opinion polls are right, May will win a new mandate for a series of reforms she wants to make and also a vote of confidence in a vision for Brexit which sees the country outside the EU's single market.