UK PM May to visit queen to mark start of election campaign

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at the Hungerford Community Centre and Social Club during an election campaign event in Bristol, England, Tuesday, May 2, 2017. May vowed Tuesday to be a "bloody difficult woman" in talks with the bloc, after EU officials accused the U.K. of failing to grasp the complexity of the task ahead. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP) (The Associated Press)

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Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond speaks, at a Conservative party general election campaign media event, in London, Wednesday, May 3, 2017. Britain will hold a general election on June 8. In the background is a poster of Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) (The Associated Press)

British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street after returning from visiting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in London where she asked for the dissolution of Parliament ahead of the upcoming general election, Wednesday, May 3, 2017.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – Prime Minister Theresa May is due to visit Queen Elizabeth II to mark the dissolution of Parliament — the official start of Britain's election campaign.

Parliament was officially dissolved Wednesday, meaning the U.K. no longer has any elected lawmakers. All 650 seats in the House of Commons are up for grabs in the June 8 election.

Voters went to the polls in 2015, but May has called a snap election as Britain prepares to negotiate its withdrawal from the European Union. She says voters should give her Conservatives a bigger majority to strengthen Britain's hand in talks with the bloc.

The main opposition Labour Party says May is leading the country toward an economically damaging "hard Brexit" and promises to soften the impact of leaving.