WELL that came out of nowhere.

Don’t let anyone tell you they were expecting yesterday’s announcement by Theresa May that a snap General Election will be held on Thursday June 8 - even the most seasoned political commentators were caught completely off guard.

While it came somewhat out of the blue, there’s no denying it is a canny decision by the prime minister.

Although Labour is at least somewhat more united than it was last summer, the party is still in disarray and led by a deeply unpopular leader - hardly the best situation to be going into a General Election in.

So it’s a very real possibility that the Tories could make some serious gains in June.

And there’s no denying Brexit is going to be the number one issue over the next six weeks.

If the Conservatives do secure another majority it’ll be seen as a definite mandate to move ahead with Mrs May’s way of leaving the EU.

There is, however, the possibility Labour and other opposition parties could get their act together and use the election as an attempt to push for a ‘soft’ Brexit’.

But, speaking honestly, this doesn’t seem terribly likely given the way the Parliamentary opposition has conducted itself recently.

Labour have spent the past year or so bickering, and Ukip, which claims to have the support of a good chunk of the UK following the Brexit vote, doesn’t seem able to rustle up more than a handful of people who’ll actually run for them.

Yes, there is an opportunity for more fringe parties like Plaid Cymru and the SNP to make gains, and they may well do so, but this is going to be little more than a tiny drop in a very big pond.

So, while you might not agree with her politically, calling an election now is about the smartest thing Mrs May could have done.

MPs still have to officially approve moving to an election, but it’s almost unthinkable that this won’t happen, with no more than a handful of rebels likely to vote against the plan.

So it’s happening, let’s deal with it.

On a personal note, may I make a personal apology to my friends and my family for how increasingly grumpy I’m going to become over the next seven weeks.

OF COURSE, this isn’t the only time voters in Wales will be going to the polls over the next few weeks, with council elections now just a few weeks away.

Unfortunately, it now seems they’ll be largely overshadowed by events in Westminster.

This is deeply worrying - local politics far too often gets short shrift, but there’s no time it’s been more important than right now.

While publications like the Argus will always do our best to keep you informed about issues which affect you where you live, it’s all too easy to be drowned out by the cacophony of national news.

The cynic in me wonders if Mrs May had even considered this when picking the date for the next election.

But then I suppose she’s got bigger things to worry about.

Twas ever thus.

WHATEVER you might think of them, the newly-formed Newport Independents Party have certainly been making waves in the city ahead of next month’s election - not all of them good.

Last week the group hit out on Twitter at other parties for “buying newspaper space” - otherwise known as the paid advertisements you see in every single edition of every newspaper in the world, during all elections.

Now we notice the party has taken out its own newspaper adverts.

Yes, the party had launched a crowdfunding campaign to pay for the ads, but it’s hard not to at least raise an eyebrow after the claims made over Twitter.

Independent they may be, but they’re still politicians.

And for the cynical, rest assured the Argus and any other reputable newspaper will never publish paid-for political editorial without it clearly being labelled as such.

THE ARGUS is running a hustings with the leaders of the main parties running for Newport City Council at the University of South Wales on Friday April 28.

The event will begin at 6.30pm and is open to everyone.

Tickets are available on a first come first served basis at eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-south-wales-argus-local-election-hustings-tickets-33706711682