Johnson suffers another defeat as MPs reject early election motion

Boris Johnson has suffered yet another defeat tonight as MPs have chosen to reject his early general election motion.

Although 242 MPs voted in favour and 56 voted against, the Prime Minister would have needed two-thirds of MPs in order for his motion under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act to take effect and spark a snap poll.

The vote was called by Johnson after the House of Commons took control of the order paper on Tuesday and passed the Benn Bill through its initial stages today, which has frustrated the government’s Brexit plans.

Labour abstained on the early election vote as the party is refusing to back one until the Benn Bill is passed into law. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described Johnson’s motion as “a cynical move from a cynical Prime Minister”.