200,000 join call for general election now
Time to evict No 10 “squatter” Sunak
MORE than 200,000 people are demanding a general election now, piling pressure on beleaguered PM Rishi Sunak to name the day.
Last week Mr Sunak tried to dampen speculation of a spring election by insisting his “working assumption” is to call a vote in the “second half of this year”.
But a major poll for the Mirror found two-thirds of the public (66%) think life has got worse since 2010 and want to vote by the summer at the latest.
Some 31% want an election
“as soon as possible” and 19% opted for the spring.
Mr Sunak is said to be considering a November date for the election which, by law, must take place by January 2025. Just 9% want an election in autumn and even fewer (3%) opted for winter, our poll found.
Labour and the Liberal Democrats have accused the PM of “squatting” in Downing Street saying he is too afraid to face the public.
Mr Sunak made a pitch to voters on Monday, when he claimed they faced a choice between sticking with the Conservatives’ long-term plan or going “back to square one” under Labour. He accused Keir Starmer of “sniping from the sidelines” and lacking a proper plan – but failed to acknowledge that he hasn’t met the majority of the five pledges he made to the nation at the start of 2023.
The Labour Leader used his New Year speech to promise he will bring in “project hope” and “crush the politics of divide and decline”.
He said the choice for voters was between national renewal under Labour or more Tory misery. Ellie Reeves, Labour’s deputy national campaign coordinator, said: “After 14 years in power, the Tories’ record is a crashed economy and broken public services. “Working people have been saddled with rocketing mortgages and bills. “It’s no wonder the Prime Minister doesn’t want to face voters. The country wants change and Rishi Sunak can’t deny that any longer.”
It came after the Mirror Chicken confronted Mr Sunak as he arrived at the BBC for Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg at the weekend.
His performance was blasted by ex-government aide Dame Louise Casey, who said his words “rang hollow” and accused him of “selling nonsense”.
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