12 December election battle begins

Political parties are readying themselves for a ‘once-in-a-generation’ General Election campaign after MPs voted for a 12 December poll.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes the vote will give him a fresh mandate for his deal to leave the EU and break the current deadlock in Parliament, telling fellow Conservative MPs that it was time for the country to ‘come together to get Brexit done’.

Labour is likely to attempt to turn the conversation towards austerity measures, with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the election wouldn't just be about Brexit, but ‘about what's happened to our public service’.

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP both see the election as a chance to ask voters whether Brexit should happen at all, with Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson reiterating that the poll was ‘our best chance to elect a government to stop Brexit’, while reports claim that the Liberal Democrats are in discussions with Plaid Cyrmu and the Green Party, as the party stresses that ‘neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn is fit to be Prime Minister’.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon views an election as another opportunity for the country to hold another independence referendum, saying that a ‘win for the SNP will be an unequivocal and irresistible demand for Scotland's right to choose our own future’.

The Green Party said the poll should be ‘a climate election’ and focus on environmental issues, while Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage reiterated that ‘Brexit now has a chance to succeed’.

The election arrives after the EU extended the UK's exit deadline to 31 January 2020. It will be the first December election since 1923.