[LukeB]

A very risky move by Theresa that could be the smartest decision for her or a stupid one.

[joeysteele]

Bad idea for me.

[UserSince2005]

Bad idea because labour will have the chance to regenerate and sack corbin after their absymal showing.

Good idea because labour being crushed will be so amusing.

[smudgie]

Good idea.
Everyone should have a clearer vision of what is what after it.
Labour might get to sort out a decent leader.
Theresa May should have a stronger hand in her dealings over Brexit...or not as the case would be if she lost the election.

[reece(:]

Bad as it will only gather more division in the country at a time when we need to come together.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by reece(:

Bad as it will only gather more division in the country at a time when we need to come together.

I agree,I can see the nasty divisions evident in the EU referendum surfacing again too.

[Kizzy]

Well they got away with fixing a referendum and a presidency don't see why a general election would be so hard :/

[Shaun]

It's a shrewd move that will give the tories a stronger foothold.

I would say it's too soon after the last one but the political climate has changed immeasurably and considering the cabinet's completely different, it makes sense to have another election.

I can't be too angry about it because all of my hesitations and protests are merely because there's no strong rival party to dethrone Theresa. I just hope once Corbyn fails abysmally and leaves, a strong leader emerges.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

Well they got away with fixing a referendum and a presidency don't see why a general election would be so hard :/

I do believe you actually believe that.

[Braden]

Good for Tories and (maybe) Liberal Democrats. Bad for Labour and UKIP. Although, a lot could transpire in the next seven weeks (case in point: Tim Farron has been labelled as a homophobe because of his religious views), I don't think there will be a a significant political effect.

People will moan either way, but I think this GE is an act of clarification in terms of going ahead with the significant change of brexit. I'm glad I don't have to wait years to vote now, since I find the whole thing quite exciting

[Northern Monkey]

Originally Posted by Kizzy

Well they got away with fixing a referendum and a presidency don't see why a general election would be so hard :/

The Tories fixed the presidency?

I didn't hear about this.Was this in the Canary?

[Northern Monkey]

Good for May and the Tories and possibly the Lib Dems.Maybe even good for the Greens.Bad for Labour and UKIP

[Firewire]

Yeah good for Theresa and the Conservatives but bad for everyone else

[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by Northern Monkey

The Tories fixed the presidency?

I didn't hear about this.Was this in the Canary?

Stop mocking the canary monkey!

The elite fix everything now

[lewis111]

I understand why she done it but it costs a lot of money to hold an election and I don't think that it's worth it, but that's Tories for you, use money when it benefits them but the people who really need the money get nothing
And because it's only 50 days away the people behind the scenes who organise everything are going to have to work extra hard

I think it was a selfish move but a clever one

[Glenn.]

Full of surprises our May

[Greg!]

It might be good in the long run. Hopefully Corbyn will resign, Labour will get their act together and be able to challenge the Tories in 2022

[ebandit]

...zero difference to myself personally

...merit in election as wor theresa was not party leader at previous election

Mark L

[DemolitionRed]

Bad idea.
In the run up to a General Election we go into a state of lock-down, where no new policies can be worked on. Right now all the MPs, Councillors, Party members etc are concerned with the Election and not helping their constituents etc.

[Livia]

Good idea. She's read the political climate and doing what she thinks best for the country going forward. No one expects a decent Brexit deal with all the childish infighting, threats to block it etc. She's put her money where her mouth is.

Most constituencies are already in election mode for the County on 4th May. Most political people, district, city and county councillors as well as lots of MPs are already out there campaigning, doorstepping, meeting the constituents so politics and elections are alrady on people's minds. Shame for the people who work for parties that they have a general election so close to a county one... they'll all be shattered come 9th June.

[the truth]

on reflection smart move and not selfish. she could have killed labour slowly for 3 yrs. but she's killing them quick to get a better hand to deal with the corrupt eu. that's good for britain (ironically better for labour too long term)

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Bad idea.
In the run up to a General Election we go into a state of lock-down, where no new policies can be worked on. Right now all the MPs, Councillors, Party members etc are concerned with the Election and not helping their constituents etc.

It's only for six weeks - I don't think their constituents are going to suffer any long-term consequences.

[DemolitionRed]

So what happened to 'The Fixed Term Parliament Act' that came into place in 2011?

[user104658]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

So what happened to 'The Fixed Term Parliament Act' that came into place in 2011?

A 2/3 vote in commons can be used to override it. Though I would imagine the intention of this was to safeguard against incompetent governments... rather than for the current govt. to be able to trigger a GE fully expecting itself to be voted back in "as is". Loopholes, innit.

[joeysteele]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

So what happened to 'The Fixed Term Parliament Act' that came into place in 2011?

Personally I think that is how she should have gone about calling this election.