British Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed in his bid to call a snap general election on Wednesday, after lawmakers wrested control of Parliament this week and voted through a bill that aims to stop a no-deal Brexit.

The election had been proposed for October 15, but the prime minister needed a two-thirds majority in the House of Commons to pass his motion. The opposition parties of Labour, the Scottish National Party and the Liberal Democrats all said they would not back Johnson's plan even before the vote began. The result saw 298 votes for the motion and 56 against — 136 short of what was needed.

The U.K. leader could still try other options to force an election. The government could try to bypass legislation requiring a two-thirds majority to approve a snap election. It has even been mooted that Johnson could call a vote of no confidence in his own government and then call on his MPs (Members of Parliament) to abstain from the vote although this is seen as extremely unlikely.

The new legislation to stop a no-deal Brexit was passed by a vote of 327-299 earlier Wednesday and could now essentially force the prime minister to ask the EU for another delay for the U.K.'s departure, which has a current deadline of October 31. The EU would have to agree to a delay and the bill would also have to be approved by the largely pro-EU House of Lords later this week.