The U.K. Parliament rejected the third motion in two months for a snap general election Monday, voting down Prime minister Boris Johnson’s latest bid for breaking the Brexit deadlock. Although the government rallied a slightly bigger support than the latest vote on Sep. 9, it didn’t garner backing from two-thirds of the Parliament—the majority needed under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act (FTPA) to call an election on Dec. 12.
The outcome came with no surprise as Labour had made it clear earlier that it will abstentiate the vote, as the opposition party still doesn’t trust Johnson will not use the time before an election to rush the deal he agreed with the European Union through the Parliament. Their concerns about an accidental no-deal Brexit were not soothed either, despite the EU agreeing Monday morning it will grant a flexible extension to the Brexit deadline until Jan. 31.
See how individual members of Parliament voted on calling a snap election.
After the vote Johnson said the government will be bringing forward a one-line bill this Tuesday, that will amend the FTPA to include a Dec. 12 election date. A similar election plan was put forward last weekend by the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party, who’d likely back the new version. A one-line bill requires a simple majority for an election to pass—although MP’s can still seize control and introduce their own amendments, altering how or when an election might be conducted.