Why Theresa May Called for Elections

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to call for snap general elections on June 8, three years before they were scheduled to be conducted, reflects not only her professed frustration at the “game-playing” in Parliament, but also her increasing confidence of securing a political mandate to see through tough negotiations with the European Union over Brexit.

Because May has called for early elections, she needs parliamentary approval—something she is expected to secure as early as Wednesday. “The Brexit, a process that’s expected to take two years, during which time the country remains a EU member. But the debate over what negotiations with the EU should look like has been rancorous. Those who campaigned to keep the U.K. in the EU want a future relationship to be similar to the one the country enjoyed with full EU membership. But the main sticking point, access to the EU single market, depends on the free movement of the EU’s citizens across the bloc. This aspect of membership is deeply unpopular in the U.K., where immigration remains a controversial issue.