Downing Street has rejected former Conservative leader Lord Hague's call to hold a snap general election.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Lord Hague said bringing forward an election "would strengthen the government's hand at home and abroad" which could help with Brexit negotiations.
A No 10 source told the BBC it was not something Prime Minister Theresa May "plans to do or wishes to do".
The next election is due in May 2020 under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
Lord Hague suggested repealing the legislation, which was brought in by the coalition government, but acknowledged an imminent election was unlikely.
Lord Hague said the government faced "the most complex challenges of modern times".
These included "Brexit negotiations, the Trump administration, the threat from Scottish nationalists, and many other issues".
A snap election "would catch the Labour Party in its worst condition since the early 30s, and with its least credible leader ever".
'Difficult to stomach'
"There is no doubt that they (the prime minister and cabinet) would be in a stronger position to take the country through these challenges successfully if they had a large and decisive majority in the Commons and a new full term ahead of them," he said.
"Any [Brexit] deal is bound to be full of compromises which one group or another in Parliament finds difficult to stomach.
"As British law needs to be amended countless times to take account of leaving the EU treaties, the government could face many close votes, concessions or defeats as it tries to implement Brexit.
"That prospect will embolden the EU negotiators, and makes an agreement that is good for the UK harder to achieve.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-39188042Hate to even partially agree with the miserable little plonker, but he's got a point. A snap election would gain the Tories a few seats right now.
However .... it's seats in the wrong places. What we actually want is for Labour to get stronger first, so they take seats back from the SNP in their traditional stronghold. While Labour is mostly anti-Brexit too, they are no where near as virulently so as the damned Scots.
