TODAY, MPs will vote to curtail the five-year fixed term parliament due to end in 2020 to facilitate the snap General Election called by Theresa May.

The Prime Minister needs a two-thirds majority, which she is certain to get given that all the opposition parties have said they will support the move.

David Lidington, the Commons Leader, has confirmed that Westminster will then dissolve just after midnight on Wednesday May 3.

In a Business Statement to MPs, he explained the date of dissolution had to be 25 days before the proposed polling day, as laid out in law.

"Therefore, the date of dissolution would be, technically, at one minute past midnight on Wednesday May 3. So, in effect we're talking about dissolution at midnight on the night of the 2nd to 3rd of May," said Mr Lidington.

Pete Wishart for the SNP noted: "This is one of the most extraordinary U-turns in political history and the Fixed Term Parliament Act may be the biggest waste of this House's time possible."

Valerie Vaz for Labour added: "I now understand why it was so difficult to get a date out of [Mr Lidington] for the forthcoming Queen's Speech, despite consistently asking him for it. Obviously, the Prime Minister's U-turn has been a long time in planning."

Candidate nominations will have to be filed by 4pm on May 10.

Although boundary changes had been proposed for 2020, the June election will be fought on the existing boundaries with 650 MPs to be elected.

In 2015, the civil service purdah period – when no advantageous government announcements can be made - began when Parliament was dissolved.

Local elections will continue to take place on May 4 but Mr Lidington said he expected the Manchester Gorton by-election scheduled for the same date will now not take place. Once Parliament is dissolved there are no MPs.

Mr Lidington told MPs: "There is no statutory provision that provides for the cancellation of a by-election when a general election is in progress. It is up to the judgement of the acting returning officer, whom one might expect to regard the by-election writ as having been superseded.

"This was the course of action taken by the acting returning officer in the one precedent that I found, which is dating back to November 1923."

Joanne Roney, Manchester's returning officer, said she was in discussion with the UK Government and the Electoral Commission about the situation.