The U.K. General Election Is Called

One Is Amused
A smiling Gordon Brown exits the most famous address in the U.K., Buckingham Palace, after asking the Queen to dissolve Parliament. (He later said that she "kindly" agreed.) The pair spoke for 22 minutes; it's the 10th time as monarch that Queen Elizabeth II has performed this duty. The Queen tends to meet with the Prime Minister on a regular basis for talks that are famously kept private. But not today.

• TIME Video with Gordon Brown
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