[Stuart]

Indeed, i think the government will be railroaded into holding it in spring next year or October at very latest. I'd be surprised if they took it to December.

There is no facility for anyone to do the 'railroading' within Parliament, it's the choice of the PM of the day.  I certainly wouldn't try to persuade my Boss to put me out of a job earlier than necessary.

The 2019 GE was in December, that didn't seem to stop any campaigning.  Wouldn't any sitting Government want to wait until as late as possible in the hope that things improve?  Furthermore, I can't see the BBC managing to cover a US Presidential election/aftermath and a UK GE campaign at the same time.

Even I'd find it all as political overload.

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But just as you have one example of a PM running down the clock when they knew they were going to lose, there are plenty of examples too of PMs going to the country before they had to and losing. You can’t just take one example and claim that “no government gives up early”.

I can only think of two examples (1974 and 2017) which were where people had low or non-existent majorities in the Commons and couldn't pass legislation. Governments with a good working majority don't do that unless they think they'll win.

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