Dan Kitwood via Getty Images
イギリスのテリーザ・メイ首相は4月18日朝、下院を解散し、6月8日に総選挙を行う意向を表明した。
ダウニング街10番地の首相官邸で、メイ首相は「我々には総選挙が必要だ。そして、総選挙は今まさに必要だ」と述べた。
総選挙は2020年まで実施されない日程だった。そして首相官邸は、メイ首相が早期の解散総選挙に踏み切るという予測を繰り返し否定してきた。
自身の心変わりについて、メイ首相は、選挙がEU離脱交渉を開始するにあたって「この先数年にわたって確実に、安定した政権運営を保証する唯一の道だ」と説明。EU離脱を遂行させるため、国民の信任を得ると発表した。
総選挙を実施するためには、下院で3分の2以上の同意を得なければならない。
「明日、私は庶民院（下院）で総選挙を6月8日に実施することを求めるために動く」と述べた。
イギリスの世論調査会社「YouGov」が、タイムス紙で実施した調査によると、保守党は労働党に対し、支持率が最大で21ポイントリードしている。
メイ首相の支持率は44％で、労働党のジェレミー・コービン党首が23%で続く。労働党の支持率はYouGovの調査で2009年以来最悪となっている。
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イギリス EU離脱を問う国民投票
BRITAIN-EU/(01 of13)
A Brexit supporter holds a Union Flag at a Vote Leave rally in London, Britain June 4, 2016. REUTERS/Neil Hall (credit:Neil Hall / Reuters)
BRITAIN-EU/IRELAND(02 of13)
A scrabble board spells out Brexit in Dublin, Ireland May 4 2016. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne (credit:Clodagh Kilcoyne / Reuters)
Britain Divided Euroskeptics(03 of13)
A Pro-Brexit campaigner hands out leaflets at Liverpool Street station in London, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. With less than three months to go until a June 23 referendum, Britain\'s anti-EU campaigners are bitterly divided, with two rival camps battling over which will be the standard-bearer in the campaign, and over how to win the historic vote. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BRITAIN-EU-POLITICS(04 of13)
A pro-Brexit flag flies from a fishing boat moored in Ramsgate on June 13, 2016. \nBritain\'s opposition Labour Party today scrambled to make the case for Europe to its members as world stock markets slipped amid concern over a British exit from the EU in a knife-edge referendum next week. / AFP / CHRIS J RATCLIFFE (Photo credit should read CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
BRITAIN-EU-POLITICS(05 of13)
UK Independence Party supporters await the arrival of leader Nigel Farage as he goes on the campaign trail for Brexit in Ramsgate on June 13, 2016. \nBritain\'s opposition Labour Party today scrambled to make the case for Europe to its members as world stock markets slipped amid concern over a British exit from the EU in a knife-edge referendum next week. / AFP / CHRIS J RATCLIFFE (Photo credit should read CHRIS J RATCLIFFE/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:AFP via Getty Images)
BRITAIN-EU/(06 of13)
British Prime Minister David Cameron attends a bilateral meeting with his Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi (L) during a European Union leaders summit addressing the talks about the so-called Brexit and the migrants crisis in Brussels, Belgium, February 19, 2016. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (credit:Francois Lenoir / Reuters)
EU Symbols On Display At Mini Europe Theme Park And European Parliament Ahead Of Brexit Referendum(07 of13)
The British Union Flag, right, and the flag of the European Union (EU) sit on display in the gift shop at the Parlamentarium, the visitor center of the European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, June 10, 2016. British public opinion is too close to call on whether the country should stay in the European Union, with many voters still undecided as interest groups and political leaders make their cases, according to two polls released this weekend. Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
EU Symbols On Display At Mini Europe Theme Park And European Parliament Ahead Of Brexit Referendum(08 of13)
Miniature wooden dolls representing European parliamentarians sit on display in the gift shop at the Parlamentarium, the visitor center of the European Parliament, in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, June 10, 2016. British public opinion is too close to call on whether the country should stay in the European Union, with many voters still undecided as interest groups and political leaders make their cases, according to two polls released this weekend. Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
BRITAIN-EU-POLL/(09 of13)
A branded balloon and mug are seen in the office of pro-Brexit group pressure group \"Leave.eu\" in London, Britain February 12, 2016. Britain\'s economy would be worse off if voters decide the country should leave the European Union, according to an overwhelming majority of economists polled by Reuters who also gave it a 40 percent chance of happening. All but one of 28 economists in the poll taken this week said the Britain would take a hit if the vote - which could take place by June - meant exiting the EU. The sole dissenter said the economy would be unmoved, not better off. REUTERS/Neil Hall (credit:Neil Hall / Reuters)
BRITAIN-BREXIT(10 of13)
Union flags and the Big Ben clocktower cover notebooks are seen on sale in London, Britain, Thursday December 17, 2015. European Union leaders could clinch a deal with British Prime Minister David Cameron in February to prevent the bloc\'s second largest economy leaving, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Thursday. Cameron is seeking to renegotiate Britain\'s relationship with the bloc it joined in 1973 ahead of a referendum on membership to be held by the end of 2017. Some EU leaders are wary of agreeing to all of his demands, however, particularly on cutting benefits for EU migrants to Britain. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor (credit:Luke MacGregor / Reuters)
EU Symbols On Display At Mini Europe Theme Park And European Parliament Ahead Of Brexit Referendum(11 of13)
Miniature figures representing a debate for and against Britain remaining in the European Union (EU) stand on display at the Mini Europe theme park, in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday, June 10, 2016. British public opinion is too close to call on whether the country should stay in the European Union, with many voters still undecided as interest groups and political leaders make their cases, according to two polls released this weekend. Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg via Getty Images (credit:Bloomberg via Getty Images)
City Financier Launches A New Brexit Campaign(12 of13)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 09: City financier Jeremy Hosking poses during a photo call to launch a new European Union referendum campaign called \'Brexit Express\' with a series of billboards in Vauxhall Cross on June 9, 2016 in London, England. Mr Hosking is campaigning for Britain to leave the European Union ahead of the referendum on the 23rd of June. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) (credit:Jack Taylor via Getty Images)
British Expats And Germans Discuss Brexit(13 of13)
BERLIN, GERMANY - MAY 26: European Union (L) and British Union Jack flags hang at a meeting for British citizens living in Germany to discuss the implications of Great Britain leaving the European Union, known popularly as Brexit, on May 26, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. On June 23, 2016, UK citizens will vote on a post-legislative referendum on the country\'s membership in the European Union. Many British proponents of leaving the EU argue that it would allow the UK to better control immigration as well as save billions in membership fees as well as control trade deals and legislation, while those who wish to remain believe that leaving would decrease both the country\'s influence in world affairs as well as its security, and cause trade barriers with the rest of Europe. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images) (credit:Adam Berry via Getty Images)
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