Boris Johnson has challenged MPs to back his call for an election on December 12 in return for more time to scrutinise his Brexit deal. The Prime Minister has offered parliamentarians until November 6 to debate and vote on his Withdrawal Agreement Bill before the campaign trail begins. The Labour Party has so far refused to back an election until the possibility of a no deal Brexit is off the table.

Mr Johnson has called on Jeremy Corbyn to “man up” and insisted the opposition party were “split from top to bottom”.

On Monday’s MPs will vote on the Government motion to table an election.

Chancellor Sajid Javid has ramped up the pressure on MPs and said if Parliament reject the motion, the Tories will continue to push for a snap election “again and again”.

Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act the Government would need a two-third majority in parliament for an election to be triggered.

The last time a general election took place in December was in 1923.

General elections are typically held in the Summer months when temperatures are high and daylight hours are longer.

A December 12 election, during the cold weather and falling less than two weeks before Christmas, could have an effect on voter turnout.

Analysis of five by-elections held in December and January during the last decade, reveal voter turnout dropped to as low as 29 percent.

In those five elections the highest turnout was a little over one-in-two, at 53 percent.

The two most recent examples happened just three years ago.

On December 1, 2016 the by-election in Richmond Park had a turnout of 53 percent.

Just seven days later another by-election was held in Sleaford & North Hykeham and voter turnout slumped to just 37 percent.

The prospect of a snap election grew after the EU agreed to a delay to Brexit in principle.

Following a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels, the European Commission’s chief spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said: “The EU 27 have agreed to the principle of an extension and work will now continue in the coming days.”

An EU source said the ambassadors’ meeting was constructive and there was “full agreement” on the need for an extension.

However Mr Johnson insisted there it was “still possible” to deliver his ‘do or die’ Brexit by October 31 but ultimately conceded it was out of his hands.

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Following visit to a hospital in Milton Keynes, the Prime Minister said: “Of course October 31 is still possible. We could leave on October 31.

“Unfortunately it depends on what the EU says.

“We’re in a situation now in which under the terms of the surrender Act which was passed by Parliament it is up to the EU to decide whether or not we stay in the EU.”

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