Boris Johnson’s bid for early UK election rejected

Late in the night, the House of Lords filibuster has ended.

So, there we have it. Boris Johnson has lost three key parliamentary votes in less than 24 hours. It’s worth mentioning these three votes were the first votes he faced in Parliament since becoming Prime Minister.

Here is the tally:

British politics doesn’t follow the three-strikes law. But the defeats are painful – especially since Johnson has also lost his working majority in Parliament after sacking the rebels who voted against him.

Elsewhere, peers in the House of Lords are settling in for a very long night of voting on amendments to the Brexit delay bill. They have tabled 86 amendments, a move the opposition branded a filibuster.

Boris Johnson has lost three crucial votes in less than 24 hours.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Labour Party’s position of resisting his call for a snap election “is not politically sustainable.”

Speaking to ITN’s Robert Peston, the Prime Minister said Labour’s position was “to be so consumed by cowardice as to resist a general election.”

In the interview, Johnson also said he took “no joy” in sacking the Conservative members of parliament who rebelled against his government.

Members of the House of Lords, known as Peers, are getting ready for a very, very long debate.

They will be considering the bill blocking no-deal Brexit which was passed earlier Wednesday by the House of Commons.

The upper chamber of Parliament doesn’t have the power to reject the bill. The Lords can either decide to approve a bill or send it back to the Commons with amendments.

A third option, albeit temporary, is trying to delay the proceedings. And it looks like that’s exactly what some Peers are going for. They have tabled 86 amendments to the bill, a move that the opposition branded a filibuster.

Dick Newby, the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, said he was prepared for a long one – arriving to the debate with a duvet, change of clothes and shaving kit no less.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he would be happy to support an early election – but not just yet.

In a tweet posted after the government’s defeat in Parliament, Corbyn said the vote can go ahead after no-deal Brexit “is off the table, once and for all.”

Corbyn has been calling for an early vote for months, which begs the question why, when presented with an opportunity to have one, he decided against it.

The simple answer: agreeing to the election on Wednesday would mean following Boris Johnson’s plan.

That’s not something Corbyn was willing to do.

He said he believed that agreeing to the election could have jeopardised the bill stopping no-deal Brexit which the House of Commons passed earlier on Wednesday.

The bill still needs to go through the House of Lords. And while the Lords don’t have the power to reject the bill, they can attempt to delay the proceedings.

Timing is crucial, because Parliament is scheduled to be suspended for five weeks starting next week.

If the bill doesn’t make it through the Lords before the recess, it won’t become a law until after Parliament comes back. Throwing in an election at that time wasn’t something Corbyn was prepared to allow.

European Union leaders have been watching the drama in Westminster – and appear to be as confused as anyone about what is going to happen next.

One EU diplomat told CNN the consensus in Brussels is “we don’t really know where the show is going to go, and what the script is, and what the finale is.”

The diplomat added:

The diplomat said Brussels is aware that the EU is being used as a “backdrop to election campaign” and added that it was pointless talking to Johnson because he currently cannot deliver a deal:

Boris Johnson’s government was defeated in its attempt to call an early election.

The government secured more votes – 298 compared to the opposition’s 56 – but that was not enough to push the motion through.

To succeed, Johnson needed at least 434 MPs to vote in favour of the proposed.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan for a snap election is on hold – at least for now.

The Prime Minister suffered a third major blow in less than 24 hours when lawmakers rejected his motion to dissolve Parliament and call an early election.

Fifty-six lawmakers voted against the motion but with only 298 votes in favour, it failed to reach the required majority of two thirds.

Since becoming Prime Minister in July, Johnson has repeatedly said he didn’t want an early election.

He changed his tune after losing a key battle on Tuesday, when Parliament voted to seize the parliamentary agenda in order to push through a bill outlawing a no-deal Brexit.

That bill was debated and voted through earlier on Wednesday. Johnson said that taking the no deal option off the table means his negotiating position in Brussels would be weakened.

After a short debate, MPs are voting in the House of Commons on a motion tabled by the Government to hold a snap UK election on October 15. Results are expected shortly.

Labour Party MP Jess Phillips has delivered a long speech in the House of Commons criticising Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for an early election.

She said she will oppose the motion, because she believes the country is facing a national crisis.

“We are currently in a national crisis, this is not a game … the British public, they think we should be in here doing our jobs,” Phillips said.

If you’re wondering why Phillips mentioned “Brenda from Bristol”, it’s a reference to a deep frustration with politics famously expressed by one voter in a 2017 BBC interview.

Asked by a BBC reporter what she thought about the fact that the then-Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early election, the respondent, identified only as Brenda from Bristol, replied: “You’re joking, not another one?”

Her bewilderment appeared to encapsulate the mood of a large part of the public, and she became an internet sensation.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for an early election on Tuesday, October 15. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean British voters will head to the polls any time soon.

That’s because the way British elections are called changed radically in 2011 when the Fixed-term Parliaments Act came into effect.

Until then, it was pretty much up to the prime minister of the day to decide when he or she wanted to hold a vote.

After 2011, that power shifted to Parliament. In order for an early election to happen, it has to be approved by a majority of two-thirds.

Given the current parliamentary arithmetic, Johnson is almost certainly not going to be able to push the motion for an election through.

Conservative Party MP Kenneth Clarke has rebuffed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, calling him “disingenuous.”

Clarke, a former chancellor, is the current “Father of the House,” an unofficial title given to the longest serving member of the Commons.

After failing to defeat a bill blocking no-deal Brexit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an early election on Tuesday, October 15.

Watch the moment he announces it:

After a short address from the Prime Minister, lawmakers in the House of Commons are debating whether or not to hold a snap general election on Tuesday, October 15.

Outside Parliament on Wednesday evening, James Mann, a 24-year-old accountant, said that while he voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, he accepted Brexit would happen. But he said he can’t accept no deal – which is why he has come to the protest outside Parliament.

Commenting on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, he said:

James Mann says he can't accept a no-deal Brexit.

Dirk Lampe, a 53-year-old community worker has even harsher opinion. “Boris is an idiot,” he said.

“After the referendum I assumed there’d be a soft Brexit but they pursued a harder and harder Brexit and now Boris has taken it to a huge level with no authority, no mandate,” Lampe said. He came to the protest with his family.

Nicki Oakes-Monger a 58-year-old teacher said Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament was a “turning point and a clear escalation.”

Dirk and Fiona Lampe (middle), with Nicky Oakes-Monger on the far right.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tells lawmakers in the House of Commons that the Government can’t function when Parliament is passing laws “that destroy the ability of government to negotiate.”

Therefore, he says, a new election is necessary, calling for a vote on Tuesday, October 15.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is not happy with the result in the House of Commons where lawmakers have just backed delaying Brexit.

Addressing Parliament straight after his defeat, he said the bill “hands over control” to the European Union.

Following its approval by the House of Commons, the bill blocking no-deal Brexit is now going to the House of Lords.

The unelected upper chamber of the UK Parliament has limited powers. It can either pass the bill as it is, or send it back to the Commons with amendments.

While the Lords can’t reject the bill, they can attempt to delay the process. It seems like that is likely: the House of Lords has tabled 86 amendments to the bill even ahead of the Commons vote on Wednesday.

Timing is crucial because Parliament is set to be suspended for five weeks starting next week.

British lawmakers have passed a bill aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit, in another blow to Prime Minster Boris Johnson.

It cleared the House of Commons by 327 votes to 299.

It now goes to the House of Lords where it will likely face extensive delaying tactics.

Conservative peers, who do not have a majority in the upper house, want to prevent the motion being passed in Wednesday’s session. If they succeed, that could prevent it becoming law before Johnson suspends Parliament early next week.

Here’s a surprise. One of the amendments to the bill seeking to block no-deal Brexit has passed through the House of Commons – possibly by accident.

The vote on the amendment was cancelled, because no tellers were available. Tellers are the four MPs who are appointed to verify the count of the votes. Two represent those voting for the debated bill and the other two are there for those voting against.

According to news agency PA, no tellers for the “noes” were put forward. It is unclear whether this was deliberate or an accident.

As for the accidental amendment, it is Labour MP Stephen Kinnock’s amendment, which was put forward by a small group of Labour lawmakers.

It seeks to bring the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated by former Prime Minister Theresa May back for another vote in the House of Commons. The deal has previously been rejected by lawmakers three times.