It would be a shame if we’d just had a big nationwide vote about this sort of thing wouldn’t it?
A petition calling for the government to call an immediate general election has hit two million signatures in the space of two days.
In July this year, Labour won their first general election since 2005 as they came to power with a 412-seat landslide victory.
Since then though, Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity with parts of the electorate has fallen, and millions have now decided to voice their discontent with the government by signing a petition.
After being set up over the weekend, the petition has gathered momentum, and just a day after it hit one million signatures, it has now surpassed two million.
The petition founder, Michael Westwood, claims the government has “gone back on the promised they laid out in the lead up to the last election.”
The most recent source of anger for some has been in response to the government’s Budget last month, in particular the plans to raise National Insurance contributions for businesses and change rules around agricultural inheritance tax for farmers.
The likes of Nigel Farage and Elon Musk have both shared the petition online, and it will have to be acknowledged in parliament because it reached the threshold of 100,000 signatures.
However, it is unlikely to have any real-world impact on the government. Many have highlighted that when a petition was launched calling for another referendum on Brexit, it was dismissed by Brexiteers – and Farage – who pointed out they had a mandate from the public who voted for it.
The same logic applies here. Labour won one of the biggest general election victories ever less than six months ago, handing them a huge mandate and it seems the government plan on giving this petition short shrift.
One senior Labour source told the Huffington Post: “This government was elected just a few months ago with an overwhelming mandate to deliver change. The sooner those who lost accept that, the better.”
There are questions over how many of the signatures are from real people, with several people claiming bots are signing it.
There is not obligation for the government to call a general election before August 2029, and it is seen as highly unlikely that the prime minister will even consider an election before summer 2028.
With Labour holding a 170-seat majority, it is also virtually impossible that an early election could be called through a vote of no confidence, as this would require dozens of Labour MPs to rebel against their leader.
