Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants new elections to be held on 15 October. He made that call shortly after a majority of the Lower House had agreed to a bill on preventing a Brexit without agreement with the European Union.

Johnson still wants Britain to leave the EU by October 31, if necessary without an agreement with Brussels. The prime minister cannot just hold new elections. Two thirds of the parliamentarians must agree and he does not have that much support. That means he needs support from the opposition.

The prime minister asked opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn to agree to new elections on October 15. The leader of the left Labor party, however, reacted cautiously.

Boris Johnson has received insufficient support at the House of Commons for his plan to hold new elections on October 15. 298 parliamentarians voted for a new ballot, but that was less than half. The Conservative Prime Minister needed the support of two thirds of the parliamentarians to continue his plan for new elections.

The British pound sterling continued its earlier advance, after the House of Commons approved a bill on preventing a brexit without agreement with the European Union. Prime Minister Boris Johnson then announced new elections on October 15.

In the run-up to that vote, the pound was already clearly higher than the dollar. Shortly thereafter, the currency was 1.1 percent higher against the dollar. A pound is now worth $ 1.2214. The pound remained stable against the euro.

The value of the British currency has fallen mainly since Johnson took office. The Conservative wants the United Kingdom to leave the European Union at all costs at 31 October. A no-deal Brexit is a specter for investors, given the economic damage that the United Kingdom would suffer as a result.

On the other hand, the pound can gain considerable value if the United Kingdom does leave the EU with good agreements. In that case, the value of the British currency can rise by 6 percent against the euro, as is the average expectation among currency experts that the Reuters news agency has measured.