The British parliament rejected a plan by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to organise a snap election, which he had said was a condition to granting MPs more time to review his revised Brexit deal.
Johnson required a two-thirds majority in order to organise an early ballot on 12 December, but the vote on Monday saw him fall short, with only 299 votes in favour. A total of 70 lawmakers voted against his plan and the other 272 abstained.
A majority of Conservative lawmakers backed him, but Labour and other opposition MPs voted against his plan
The vote on Monday marked the third time a push from Johnson to hold an early election to break the current Brexit stalemate, was rejected in Parliament.
The vote took place on the same day as EU leaders agreed to a request by Johnson to postpone the current 31 October Brexit date by three months, to January 2020.
The EU's decision to agree to an earlier departure, which Johnson —who has previously said he would rather "die in a ditch" that delay Brexit beyond Halloween— said was "unwanted," was assorted with the possibility of an earlier departure if the necessary legislation was ready before.
Following his defeat on Monday, Johnson will renew his attempt to secure an early election by getting a new bill through Parliament which on Tuesday, for which he only requires a simple majority.
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
