Cynical hacks in an increasingly secular Westminster may largely have ignored the religious element of surprise at Easter over the weekend, but they got the shock of the year this morning when it became clear that the Prime Minister, Theresa May was calling a snap general election on June 8.
One can only speculate to what extent May contemplated her move – which seeks a political fresh start after months of wrangling over Brexit – while attending St. Andrew's church at Sonning, where she still occupies a pew most Sundays.
But perhaps there were clues in her almost monarch-like Easter statement, in which she referred explicitly, as the Queen does, to Christ and somewhat bizarrely portrayed Christians almost as a persecuted minority in Britain.
Critics argued then that she should not be linking her government to Christian values while presiding over cuts to benefits, the NHS, schools and other public services, just as critics today will argue that her 'reluctant' move was sheer opportunism rather than statesmanship.
After all, by blaming the Opposition parties for 'division' and then pulling the rug from under their feet by challenging them to oppose the House of Commons vote tomorrow that is needed to go to the country despite the Fixed Term Parliament Act, May has shown a ruthless streak.
Barely a month ago officials were briefing journalists that there would definitely not be a snap election this year (a move Christian Today predicted at the end of 2016).
But clearly the temptation to destroy the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn was too great, as May decided to learn from the politically fatal mistake of Gordon Brown in 2007 when he failed to heed the polls and go to the country to gain an early mandate of his own.
And all the polls suggest a Tory victory, with a YouGov survey this morning placing the Conservatives on 44 per cent to Labour's 23 and the Liberal Democrats' 12.
Fevered speculation will surely turn this week to the plight of Labour, and its weak leader Corbyn who was characteristically slow to respond to the announcement today. Moderate and even leftist Labour MPs may be wishing that Corbyn would resign today, but the reality is that, doubtless with deep reluctance, Corbyn will -- unless there can somehow be a coronation – have to face a general election campaign he must know in his heart is doomed to disaster. The party simply does not now have the time for a leadership election. Critics will be cursing the vanity of Team Corbyn this week.
Instead, the Liberal Democrats, led by the evangelical Christian Tim Farron, look like the Opposition party in waiting. In contrast to Corbyn, Farron was quick out of the blocks this morning, declaring this as an opportunity for voters who oppose a 'hard' Brexit to make their voices heard. And as former Labour voters consider whether to lend their vote to the Lib Dems to do just that, the third party looks well placed to increase its share of nine seats, a derisory figure resulting from Nick Clegg's fateful decision to go into coalition with a party – the Tories – diametrically opposed to them on all the majorissues of the day, starting with Europe. An unlikely chance for a fresh start has been gifted to the Lib Dems, so it is unsurprising that they welcome a general election that comes as it does in the midst of troubled Brexit negotiations.
Meanwhile – and this is where May is taking a risk, and arguably putting her own partisan interests ahead of the country's – the SNP looks set to benefit, too. With a second independence referendum off the table for several years, this could be a chance for Scottish voters to register again their own opposition to Brexit, and the general course of what is actually, beneath the surface of Easter messages and the massive distraction of Brexit wrangling, a notably right-wing administration.
Of course, the one set of divisions to which May did not refer were those in her own party, which are considerable, with groups of Tory MPs who back both a hard and soft Brexit circling her and monitoring her every move.
By going to the country, the Prime Minister will be hoping for a mandate of her own for the next five years. And judging by the political landscape, it is almost inconceivable that she won't get it.
Just when we looked to be settling into a period of relatively normal politics, the drama has started up again.
Labour will surely have a new leader by the end of the year. The Lib Dems could be resurrected from the dead. And the Union could be in even greater peril, with Scottish nationalism ever more difficult to argue against in the face of pro-Brexit nationalism south of the border.
For better or worse, all the parties will now get the chance for a fresh start.
