being able to thwart the government's plan. Others argued that it facilitated the Brexit negotiations by forcing the EU to modify the current proposed deal. The move is unprecedented in British politics and caused debate in the media, an attempt to stop it in the Scottish Court of Session, an attempt by ex-prime minister John Major and others to stop it in the English High Court and in the High Court in Northern Ireland. It was reported by many media sources that the move takes the UK one more step towards a full dictatorship from its current status of 'elective dictatorship'. The legality of the suspension of parliament was tested in courts in England and Scotland. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. On 24 September, it ruled unanimously that the prorogation was both justiciable and unlawful. The prorogation was quashed and deemed "null and of no [legal] effect". Parliament resumed the next day. On the return of parliament the government lost its majority when Conservative MP Phillip Lee crossed the floor of the house to join the Liberal Democrats. This meant that the combined votes of the Conservative and DUP MPs amounted to one less than the combined votes of opposition parties. The government of Boris Johnson then lost a vote, 301 to 328, giving control of the agenda of the house to the MPs, removing the control the government had over the introduction of new laws. The 21 Conservative MPs who voted against their own government had the whip removed by Number 10, removing them from the party. This included long-standing members of the party. Johnson called for a general election and following a few attempts succeeded in getting a vote approving an election through parliament. Current political landscape note: this section is outdated. In the December 2019 general election, the Conservative Party, led by Boris Johnson, won a large overall majority. Jeremy Corbyn resigned as leader of the Labour Party. Jo Swinson resigned as Lib Dem leader after losing her own seat. On 20 December 2019, the Brexit withdrawal agreement was passed. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 at 11 p.m. GMT and entered a transition period, set to finish on 31 December 2020. In January 2020, the Labour Party began the process of electing a new leader. On 4 April 2020, Keir Starmer was elected leader of the