There would be no General Election until 2020. The country needs stability, she said, through the brexit negotiation. That was the position before the easter recess. But while on a Walking Holiday in wales last week, theresa may had time to reflect and she changed her mind. An unelected Prime Minister needs a mandate. In the polls, heres just one of them from yougov, theresa may and the conservatives have a commanding lead. Her allies were telling her there was no better time to go to the country. So, if this parliament here votes tomorrow to approve her call for a Snap Election as we expect it will then britain will vote again in six weeks time, on june the 8th. They are calling it the brexit election. Our Political EditorLaura Kuensberg begins our coverage. Did she surprise them . Did she surprise you . Did theresa may even surprise you . Did theresa may even surprise herself . Her biggest decision as Prime Minister taken only days ago. I have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a General Election to be held on the 8th ofjune. That was not her plan. But she says to get brexit done, she needs more support around here. In recent weeks, labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. The Scottish National party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repealed britains membership of the European Union. And unelected members of the House Of Lords have vowed to fight as every step of the way. Our opponents believe because the governments majority is so small that our resolve will weaken and that they can resolve will weaken and that they ca n force resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course, they are wrong. So, tomorrow there will bea are wrong. So, tomorrow there will be a vote in parliament that will all but certainly get the process going and if you are in any doubt about how the tories will bring your choice. I have only recently and Relu Cta Ntly choice. I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. Since i became Prime Minister, i have said that they should be no election until 2020, but now i have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold the selection and secure support for the decisions i must take. Most of her ministers had been in the dark. Only in the last three days did she decide. Theresa may only moved in the year 279 days ago, and she said consistently there should be no early General Election. But quite simply she has changed her mind and what happens next to theresa may will be up to you. Labour will support to morals vote to boost the bottom, even though the weakness of Jeremy Corbyn is one of the reasons why an early election is on. Yet his supporters hope his ideas can cut through. I welcome the opportunity for us, to put the keys to the people of britain to stand up against this government and its failed economic agenda, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our nhs in problems, which has left our schools are underfunded and so left our schools are underfunded and so many people uncertain. We want to put a case out there for the people of britain of a society that cares for all, an economy that works for all and for all, an economy that works for alland a for all, an economy that works for all and a brexit that works for all. More than ever, perhaps, this election will notjust be about what happened here. The whole countrys constitution. The tories will not promise another vote on independence in scotland, but a Nicola Sturgeon well. This is a biggest uturn in re ce nt well. This is a biggest uturn in recent political history but it is very clear that the Announcement Todayis very clear that the announcement today is one all about the narrow interests of her own party, not the interests of her own party, not the interests of her own party, not the interests of the country overall. On the road already as planned for the local elections, the Lib Dems The Opportunity to come back from rock bottom. It is an opportunity for the people of this country to change the direction of this country, to decide that they do not want a hard brexit, they want to keep britain in the Single Market and indeed it is an opportunity for us to have a decent, strong opposition in this country that we desperately need. How many more times are you going to change your mind Prime Minister . When and theresa may is get some political problems but the hurly burly of any Political Campaign causes some problems too, just ask anybody who has ever left at this address. For more reaction, lets speak to the conservative dominic raab, tom brake of the Liberal Democrats and david lammy from the labour party. Welcome, all of you. Thanks for being with us. I was always conscious, dominic, when i saw the Prime Minister going to europe, that she must have felt she was the only one sitting at the table without a mandate and that must have played on her mind. She has certainly got a mandate for a referendum, with 3a Million People participating. I think the truth is that she did not ideally want to go to an election but she knows it is necessary, necessary to give us the best chance of getting the best out of these negotiations but also to keep the Economy Firing on all the wonders and to deal with some of these pressing social issues, education for youngsters to social care. This is about leadership and the comparison between her and Jeremy Corbyn in this, looking back to some socialist paradigms from the 70s or the lib dems wanting to tear up the result, is going to be stark and clear for the country. It certainly helps if you are now two pro minister rather than one who has been shovelled into the job on the back of a referendum vote. In terms of the brexit negotiations, we have got the biggest direct democratic mandate and living history but it is clear, i think, mandate and living history but it is clear, ithink, to mandate and living history but it is clear, i think, to the Prime Minister, having taken advice from senior ministers, that to do all the things that this government wants to achieve, yes on brexit but also the economy and some of those pressing Social Justice issues economy and some of those pressing socialjustice issues that she has talked a lot about, she will need to have the mandate from the people and i think, as i said, this will be about leadership and all those areas. So, david, the conservatives areas. So, david, the conservatives are going to campaign on leadership. We will speak to the lib in moment but they will campaign on brexit, what is jeremy but they will campaign on brexit, what isJeremy Corbyn going to campaign on question i watched him in buying them dropping about the nhs, housing, education, you didnt mention brexit. Talking about. I have been an mp for 17 years. I cannot see any scenario in which the next two and a half months we are going to be able to run an election solely on the issue of brexit. Of course it will be on the button but if you have elderly parents, you ca re if you have elderly parents, you care about the collapse of care system. If youre waiting seven hours a e, you care about the fact the images of the crisis. If you have a child in state school, you are aware of the huge cuts to education funding. Those are the bread and butter issues. Yes, brexit was also about living standards, of course it was, and that will be central to the discussion, but right across the General Election cycle, as night follows day, people will come back to the ordinary issues that matter to them and i think jeremy was right. When you go out campaigning, as you may do towards the end of this week, and put out your literature, are you going to have Jeremy Corbyn pictured . Jeremy is my next door neighbours so of course, he wants my Campaign Last time round in that context, youre asking the wrong person will you ta ke asking the wrong person will you take him to the doorstep . asking the wrong person will you take him to the doorstep . I will hope he will not be in the top and constituency and that is because we are not usually described as a marginal i hope he gets around the country. Tim farron was in the south west today, where he is open to do well, not so well in 2015 of course. They lost a lot of mps down there, the lib dems. I hear the already booked, the literature is already there ready to go. There is 300 candidates, so the lib dems were prepared for this . We had prepared for a possible snap General Election in autumn last year. So we have had candidates in players who have been campaigning in anticipation of that election. They were kept in post because we pushed it back to the end of may. Now we have got the election and are ready for it and looking forward to fighting the campaign, and the Prime Minister has chosen the territory that we would want to fight the election. She wants to go for hard brexit, we think the uk should stay in the Single Market and Customs Union and we will make that a central feature of her campaign because millions ofjobs, the livelihood of millions of britons, depend on it. The bright spot for you was Richmond Park in south west london, where you took a seat, overturning a huge majority for a former conservative mp, but he did not do too well in stalk and i am wondering north of watford, basically, ive country going to thank you for are running the issues of the referendum . Thank you for are running the issues of the referendum . Well, what we are council by elections, another barometer of how parties are doing, all across the country, it does not matter where it is, please is supposedly ordered that wouldnt remain, we are making more games than all of the other parties. So even in stoke on trent, for instance, we have even made advances. I think, instance, we have even made advances. Ithink, had instance, we have even made advances. I think, had the manchester by election taken place in fact been intended, we would also got a very good result there. We may well have ta ken got a very good result there. We may well have taken that the from labour. What is a good majority . That is for the pundits in the media. She has took until the backbencher. If you are a politician going into a General Election, the last thing you want to do is make assumptions or be presumptuous about the voters. They get to decide but we have got a terrific record on creating almost 3 million newjobs. We have taken 4 million of the lowest pa id we have taken 4 million of the lowest paid out of income tax. Tom was talking about education. Actually, sorry, david, we have got 1. 8 million more children in State Schools deemed good or outstanding than we had in 2010. We are looking forward to running on a record but also a positive vision, not looking back to the 1970s and socialist utopia, not ripping up the referendum trying to pretend that we do not have a duty to follow through on the will of the british people. We are the ones actually with a positive agenda today putting forward. They are shaking their heads. We can do this more, we have got six weeks thank you very much indeed. I suppose one of the things that strikes me listening to that discussion is the sense in which this is going to be a really unusual election. I mean, 83 was the last big landslide for the tories, 1997 for labour and already there seems to be an expectation that it is not going to be much of a cliffhanger. Well, you could say that at the moment but we know that politics is pretty unpredictable at the moment. I think winter is me was walking in the i i think winter is me was walking in the i think when theresa may was walking in the welsh hills, i think she probably reflected on some of these polls, there has been no sitting Prime Ministers since 1983 for the conservatives who are violating the ball flight she has at the moment but we also know that holes must not always be trusted. We have seen that over the last three yea rs. Have seen that over the last three years. The other thing that she will also consider, john, is that she has only a smallish majority and there will be times along this path of negotiation on brexit were she will have to compromise and it is much easier to compromise if you do not have to keep looking over your shoulder at the backbenchers. The third thing, and i wasjust making this point to dominic, is that when she goes to europe, it does strengthening her hand as she is sitting there with the majority, with a mandate from the british people for the things that she is probably going to be denied conservative party manifesto. And i guess a lot of people around the world must be bewildered by the idea that you could call a Snap Election, particularly when britain passed a law that was meant to prevent that. Anyway let us move on. And for more on the reaction from europe to todays announcement, i spoke a brief time ago with the bbcs gavin lee in brussels. There was a real shock actually. It get a sense that there was no pre warning from theresa may because i was sitting in the usual press briefing, where all of the issues on the European Union agenda, and the officials are presenting the head of the european commission, jean claude juncker, said, when i asked him about what his First Response was, said he knew nothing, what is this . I think there was a genuine sense of shock. Obviously article that he has already been triggered so, in a sense, presumably it is going to be a five week hiatus while they are busy fighting the election and nobody is there negotiating. Yes, but there was already some ground amid a privately between eu officials and British Brexit officials, given the fact there was the french elections and it was a period of calm, allowing the eu officials to get their ducks in order, really, when it came to how they would negotiate this, which is about a 5 6 week period. She has chosen that time. Behind the scenes, what is interesting, in the uk some mps were seeing this strengthens theresa may s hand. If she wins this election, she goes in with a stronger voice. The eu officials i have spoken to the actually what this might do is give a Single Channel to talk to, and any chance of Behind The Scenes hard brexit yea rs of Behind The Scenes hard brexit years having an effect on the talks might go away. They know if theresa may wins this election, there may be a Single Channel, that her vision is a Single Channel, that her vision is a stronger if that is reinforced in the polls. Thank you very much. Well, with me now is michael gove former education and Justice Secretary for the conservative party. He also led the brexit campaign. He is one of the Chief Architect for brexit. I keep coming to talk to us. Just telling me that you are very excited to be going camping again shortly but he did not know. You we re shortly but he did not know. You were at notting hill tube station |j were at notting hill tube station had no idea. My wife rang the other was getting on the tube and asked me what was going on, she had no idea. My wife rang the other was getting on the tube and asked me what was going on, she is a Press Conference andl going on, she is a Press Conference and i had no idea. Made it clear that she wanted to have a second Independence Referendum and really tried to put, you know, tried to undermine teresas progress, i thought i might be a strong case but everybody said that it was not going to happen. You could have knocked me down with a feather when the news broke. In the next few weeks, i would imagine the Prime Minister is going to put together her manifesto, and one would expect the manifesto will be her blueprint for brexit. Would that be fair . Yes, i think it will be. The Prime Minister clearly feels that when it comes to making sure that we can implement our departure from the European Union on herterms, then departure from the European Union on her terms, then having won an election, which i am confident she will, having her own mandate and manifesto, which the country has endorsed, will strengthen her hand hugely. Notjust in negotiating with brussels but also in dealing with the political problems here. The House Of Lords is full of people who are deeply disappointed with the brexit result, have not come to terms with that, onc