Coffee House Shots: Boris’s cake-and-eat-it-too election strategy

Boris Johnson wants an election this side of Christmas – the Conservative party is doing well in the polls, he has secured a deal with the EU, and Labour’s Brexit message is simply not cutting through, if the polls are anything to go by. But an election is not within his gift. On Monday, MPs will vote again on whether or not to trigger one, but the vital two-thirds majority isn’t necessarily there. So why is he trying again?

On this evening’s Coffee House Shots, James Forsyth explains Boris’s cakeism – tonight’s announcement means that Boris can be seen to try to get his Brexit deal through the Commons once more, while at the same time potentially paving the way to an early general election. Meanwhile, Katy Balls outlines exactly where opposition MPs – from the SNP to the DUP – sit on the notion of a Christmas general election.