British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called Thursday for an early election after a series of votes in parliament tore up his hardline Brexit stance and left him without a majority.

Johnson will deliver an address in which he "will argue that it is now time for the people to decide after parliament has failed them so we can resolve this once and for all," a Downing Street spokesman said.

The timing of the vote itself was still being debated as the country raced toward an October 31 departure from the EU without a plan for what comes next. 

But election battle lines were drawn across the front pages of British newspapers after a particularly bruising week of UK politics did little to resolve the three-year impasse.

The main opposition Labour-­backing Daily Mirror branded Johnson "Britain's worst PM" for threatening a "reckless no-deal Brexit."

The Daily Mail shot back by calling Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn a "chicken" for refusing to back Johnson's call for a ­general election on October 15.

The election talk ramped up despite a vote in parliament on Wednesday in which the main opposition Labour Party refused to heed Johnson's call for an election - at least for now.

An opinion poll conducted by YouGov on Monday and Tuesday showed Johnson's Conservatives leading Labour by 35 to 25 percent.

Parliament is rushing through legislation designed to keep Johnson from breaking Britain off from its closest ­trading partners without a negotiated agreement with Brussels.

They appeared on course to do so by Monday - a victory that would be accomplished just ahead of five-week shutdown of parliament Johnson controversially ordered at the end of last month.

The bill forces Johnson to seek a three-month Brexit extension until January 31 should no deal emerge from an EU summit in Brussels on October 17-18.

It passed the lower House of Commons with the support of 21 rebel Conservative MPs - who were promptly kicked out of the party. 

The upper House of Lords ended an all-night filibuster by Johnson's supporters early on Thursday and agreed to finish voting on the bill by Friday night.

The bill could then end up in the House of Commons on Monday to consider any changes. It would then go to Queen Elizabeth II for final approval.