U.K. election campaign officially underway

Boris Johnson has kicked off the Conservative Party's campaign for the Dec. 12 U.K. election, accusing the political opposition of blocking Brexit.

While unofficial campaigning has been gearing up for weeks, the five-week campaign formally began when Parliament was dissolved Wednesday. Johnson, as prime minister,went to Buckingham Palace to notify Queen Elizabeth before kicking off the Conservative campaign with a speech later in central England.

All 650 seats in the House of Commons are up for grabs in the election, which will be more than two years early. Some 46 million voters are eligible to take part in the U.K.'s first December vote in 96 years.

"Let's get Brexit done," Johnson, 55, said outside his Downing Street official residence, adding that Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn would bring yet more turmoil with fresh referendums on EU membership and Scottish independence.

He criticized MPs, sayingthey had refused "time and again" to deliver on Brexit and honour the outcome of the 2016 referendum.

Both Johnson and his predecessor, former prime minister Theresa May, have been unable to get their Brexit deals through Parliament.

WATCH: 'Get Brexit done': Boris Johnson kicks off campaign

'Get Brexit done': Boris Johnson kicks off campaign

5 years ago

Duration 1:47

Conservative leader says 2020 will be 'horror show' of dither and delay if Labour wins.

Johnson said WednesdayaLabour government would spend 2020 in a"horror show of yet more dither and delay" over Brexit.

"I can tell you, I've got to the stage where I've been wanting to chew my own tie in frustration, becausein a sensewe're so nearly there."

The Conservative leader kicked off the campaign by saying he wanted to move forward quickly and argued the Brexit plan he presented is a "great deal."

His opponents, however, don't agree, and the Brexit question is expected to be central to the coming campaign.

Corbyn has saida Labour government would "get Brexit sorted within six months by giving you, the British people, the final say."

WATCH: Labour leader talks about election and Brexit

Jeremy Corbyn says Labour will sort Brexit within 6 months

5 years ago

Duration 2:11

The Labour leader kicks off his election campaign, says Brexit 'needs to be resolved, but it must be done democratically.'

Speaking at a campaign event in the English town of Telford, Corbyn said Labour would deliver real change and share power and wealth with people who "don't have friends in high places."

The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile,are campaigning on a pro-EU, anti-Brexit message.

Leader Jo Swinson said Tuesdaythe vote presents an opportunity for "seismic change." Her party wants to increase its seat count dramatically from the 20 it held at dissolution.

Nigel Farage's Brexit Party didn't have any seats in the House of Commons at dissolution, but it aims to play a major role in the coming election. Farage (currently a member of European parliament and not seeking a seat as an MP)wants to leave the EU, but has argued Johnson's deal won't lead to "genuine independence."

Testy rhetoric

Election season got off to an ill-tempered start, as Johnson accused the main opposition Labour Party of planning to "raise taxes so wantonly" that it would destroy U.K. prosperity.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Johnson accused the left-of centre party of attacking the rich "with a relish and vindictiveness not seen since Stalin persecuted the kulaks," the wealthier peasants who were targeted by the Soviet regime in the 1930s.

Corbynhas labelled Johnson's economic plans "Thatcherism on steroids," in reference to the free-market, low-spending ideology of the late former Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

The Conservative campaign has had a rocky start. Just minutes before Johnson's introductory comments on Wednesday,Alun Cairns stepped down as a cabinet minister over allegations concerning a former aide's role in a rape trial. Cairns, MP forVale of Glamorgan, has said he will still seek re-election.

On Tuesday, outgoing House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg was forced to apologize for his remarks that suggested the victims of a London apartment block inferno that killed 72 in 2017 lacked common sense for following fire department advice to wait in their apartments for help.

Rees-Mogg apologized, but his comments drew a rebuke from opposition politicians and from rap star Stormzy, who urged the Conservative lawmaker to resign and tweeted: "These politicians are actual aliens."

The Conservatives were also criticized for posting a doctored video of a senior Labour figure on Twitter that appeared to show him failing to answer a question, when in fact he did.

Conservative Party chair James Cleverly told the BBC on Wednesday the ad was just a bit of fun.

"What we also did, and this is not unique to us, is we did a lighthearted satirical video, obviously so with a comedy soundtrack, highlighting the Labour Party's chaotic position on Brexit," he said.

Asked whether his party had "posted a lie" online, he replied: "I disagree with your assessment of it."