Johnson needed the support of two-thirds of the House of Commons, or 434 votes, to announce an early election. Two hundred ninety-nine parliamentarians voted for the election, 70 voted against.

The prime minister said he would introduce a short bill on holding elections on December 12, which required a simple majority of votes.

Johnson proposed to hold elections last week, explaining their necessity by the absence of a parliamentary majority and the resulting inability to approve a deal with the European Union on Brexit. He insisted that the United Kingdom would exit the EU as soon as possible and believed that after the election, a new parliament and government would be able to ratify the deal.