U.K. PM Boris Johnson probably didn't expect it to be this hard.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson began moves to trigger a snap general election after suffering a humiliating defeat for his Brexit strategy that left his ruling party in tatters.
...On Tuesday, he lost his ruling majority when one of his own Tory MPs defected to join the Liberal Democrats. Six hours later, Johnson’s first test in a Commons vote ended in a heavy and damaging defeat. He retaliated by firing rebels from his party.

Members of the House of Commons voted 328 to 301 to take a crucial first step toward forcing the prime minister to delay Brexit by three months in an effort to stop a no-deal split. It’s a delay he has repeatedly rejected under all circumstances.
...In all, 21 Conservatives defied Johnson and voted against him, effectively sacrificing their careers in politics as his officials immediately began expelling the rebels from the party for failing to obey the premier’s orders. Rebels punished in this way included former Chancellor Philip Hammond.

The Tory defections mean that Boris no longer has exclusive power, and that it's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's turn to move.

“Some of the people saying, ‘we can’t have a general election’, are just frightened Jeremy will actually win,” one shadow minister said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Corbyn suggested his party would back a general election – but only if it could also block a no-deal Brexit.
...
Whether or not Johnson succeeds in forcing a general election, few at Westminster doubt that one is likely in the coming weeks and months, and Labour MPs are turning their minds to the contest ahead.

Former PM Tony Blair says an election would be "a trap".

"But if he mixes up the Brexit question with the Corbyn question in a general election, he could succeed, despite a majority being against a no-deal Brexit, because some may fear a Corbyn premiership more.

"He [Mr Corbyn] should see an election before Brexit is decided, for the elephant trap it is."

Blair appears to be right. Johnson is leading in ALL of the polls for a month now.
Blair has been warning about Corbyn and how he would destroy Labour since the beginning.

In his most recent attack on Corbyn, Blair stated that “the Labour party is lost… the game’s over”. The reality is that Labour has only lost one thing: patience with Blair. Membership figures soared following Corbyn’s leadership victory, with the number of members now standing at a huge 540,000 people.

OK. So Corbyn brought in members, but he can't win elections. Just look at the polls before the last election.

But elections are rarely about policies. Elections are won by the best-led party; YouGov finds just 15% put Corbyn as best leader, against May’s walloping 49%.
... All they can do is choose whichever anti-May candidate is best placed to deny her a monstrous majority lasting all the way to 2022.

Right. So Labour got completely annihilated in 2017 because they cared about petty things like policies. Right?

Blair may be right eventually, but he hasn't been right for a very long time.

The same goes for those polls. When a 30-point defeat turns into a 2-point election, then something other than just a mistake had happened.