Boris Johnson has followed through with his threat to suspend Parliament, with the shutdown beginning in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The prorogation kicked off after the prime minister suffered his sixth parliamentary defeat in as many days, when the Commons rejected another call for a general election.
Just 293 MPs voted in favour of his motion for an early poll, far short of the 434 needed.
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Parliament was officially prorogued just before 2am and will not open again until 14 October.
Commons Speaker John Bercow condemned the move as “an act of executive fiat”, while opposition MPs chanted “shame on you” as their Tory counterparts filed out of the chamber.
Johnson now has five weeks away from Parliament pursue his political goals. So how will he spend that time?
Prepare a Queen’s Speech
The PM has insisted he is suspending Parliament to prepare a Queen’s Speech that will set out a “very exciting agenda” of domestic policy.
But most critics agree that Johnson has prorogued Parliament principally to stop Parliament’s interference with his Brexit management.
Nevertheless, MPs will be expecting a Queen’s Speech on 14 October - though plans may be afoot to reject it, according to The Telegraph.
The newspaper reports that Labour is considering a plan to topple Johnson by voting down the Queen’s Speech on 21 or 22 October, and then tabling a vote of no confidence in the PM.
Appeal to Brussels
Johnson has long maintained a bolshy stance over the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, but his tune has changed following recent humblings at home that along with his recent parliamentary defeats, include the resignations of a number of senior Tories and his own brother.
Meeting with Irish leader Leo Varadkar in Dublin on Monday, Johnson tried “to strike a more conciliatory tone than in previous weeks”, and warned the no-deal would be “a failure” of both governments, reports the BBC.
The PM’s public line has consistently been that he would prefer to get a deal with Brussels - and with the 31 October Brexit deadline looming, he is expected to ramp up the efforts to secure an agreement with the EU.
Prepare for no deal
Johnson this week said the Government would use the parliamentary suspension to continue negotiating a deal with the EU but is still “preparing to leave without one”.
“No matter how many devices this Parliament invents to tie my hands, I will strive to get an agreement in the national interest,” he told Parliament on Monday.
“This government will not delay Brexit any further.”
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg believes it is “absolutely not” impossible that the Government will take the UK out of the EU with no-deal on the 31 October.
“If you squint, you can see the chance of an agreement being wrapped up at pace, although it seems the chances range somewhere between slim and negligible,” she says.
Party conference
The five-week suspension of Parliament includes a three-week period that was already earmarked for recess, during which Labour, Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats will hold their annual party conferences.
The Tory conference will run from 29 September to 2 October in Manchester, the Lib Dems will hold their conference between 14 and 17 September in Bournemouth, and Labour will meet in Brighton between 21 and 25 September.
Prepare for a general election
With Parliament prorogued until 14 October, the earliest that UK voters can head to the polls is November.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had previously said he would back an election once legislation to prevent a 31 October no-deal was passed - which it now has, after becoming law on Monday evening.
However, Corbyn told the Trades Union Congress annual conference in Brighton on Tuesday that Labour would trigger a general election only when it was absolutely certain that Johnson would adhere to this legislation and that the risk of a no-deal Brexit has been removed, the BBC reports.
“Our priority is, first, to stop no-deal, and then to trigger a general election,” he said.
The Labour boss continued: “No one can trust the word of a prime minister who is threatening to break the law to force through no-deal. So a general election is coming. But we won’t allow Johnson to dictate the terms.
“And in that election we will commit to a public vote with a credible option to leave and the option to remain.”
If Johnson secures a Brexit deal with the EU, he will be keen to fight an election as soon as possible. He could hope to be credited with outfoxing his Brussels counterparts and could argue his deal is better than Theresa May’s rejected withdrawal agreement, better than staying in the EU, and better than no deal.
If a deal can’t be achieved and Johnson complies with the law to delay Brexit until 31 January, he is expected to pitch his election campaign around a central argument that only he can deliver Brexit, while opposition parties will delay or cancel the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc.
