UK parliament shuts down as Johnson loses second election bid

The UK parliament was suspended for five weeks early on Tuesday morning as Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered his sixth defeat in a row when MPs voted against a snap election.

In chaotic scenes, the House of Commons also forced the government to release its secret plans for a no-deal Brexit.

As MPs from the ruling Conservative Party left the chamber they were heckled by opposition members calling out “shame on you”. Johnson has been accused of using the shutdown to avoid scrutiny of his plans to leave the European Union without a deal.

Others tried to stop Speaker John Bercow leaving the chamber while some held signs saying “silenced”.

Earlier, parliament voted by 311 to 302 ordering Johnson to publish documents from the government's Operation Yellowhammer operation for a no-deal Brexit after a leak last month warned of food and medicine shortages.

The government was also instructed to publish messages relating to the suspension of parliament sent by his senior adviser, Dominic Cummings and other aides on social media and phones.

Johnson fell well short of the two thirds majority he needed to call a snap poll under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, with only 293 MPs voting for his motion.

On Monday afternoon he was boxed in further when the bill to prevent a no-deal Brexit on 31 October was given royal assent and became law.

The setbacks continued for the prime minister when Bercow said he would stand down on October 31, if there was no election before then. The government had been openly manoeuvring to run a candidate against him at the next election.

However, his resignation, and Johnson's defeat over the election's timing means that he will still be sitting when parliament returns on October 14.

Bercow has been a central figure in allowing backbench MPs to stop a no-deal Brexit.