Number 10 insists June snap election 'absolutely not' happening
2 min read
Theresa May is "absolutely not" planning to call a snap general election in June, Downing Street has insisted.
The Mail on Sunday this weekend reported that the Tories had begun block-booking printing houses for election materials and had upped their spending on digital advertising ahead of a surprise 6 June vote.
The Sunday Times meanwhile claimed that Britain's top civil servant, Sir Mark Sedwill, had advised Mrs May to call a snap election to shore up her battered authority.
But Downing Street on Monday moved to shut down the speculation, saying Mrs May was "absolutely not" planning to send the country to the polls.
The Prime Minister's official spokesperson said: "Any suggestion otherwise is categorically untrue."
The rebuttal comes just a day after Home Secretary Sajid Javid warned that a fresh general election was the "last thing this country needs".
He told the BBC: "The people will never forgive us for it."
But former foreign secretary Boris Johnson suggested that rumours of a snap poll were being deliberately peddled by Conservative advisers in a bid to force MPs to get behind Mrs May's Brexit deal.
In his weekly column for the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson said: "On the most important issue facing the country, Tory MPs would not have a clue what to say, and the Government’s position would fall apart.
"Perhaps there is no plan for an election; perhaps it is just a scare tactic designed to get MPs to vote for the PM’s appalling deal.
"But if someone in Tory HQ genuinely thinks it would be a good idea, they should be despatched on secondment to Venezuela or Zimbabwe or somewhere they can do less damage."
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