Prime Minister Theresa May accuses her opponents of “political game-playing” and undermining the country in the upcoming talks to exit the European Union.

May says the divisions in Parliament explained her change of heart on an early election. Since becoming prime minister last July in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the EU, May had consistently said she would not seek an early election.

Speaking outside her Downing Street residence in London, May warns that “division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit.”

May says she has concluded that the “only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election.”

Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, the next general election date was to be in 2020. But an early election can take place if two-thirds of lawmakers in the House of Commons vote for it. The opposition Labour Party, which trails May’s Conservative Party in opinion polls, has said it supports such a move.

— Agencies