A petition demanding an immediate General Election has finally closed six months after it was officially created on Parliament’s website.
The petition, which closed on December 5, ended with a total of 1,059,230 signatures.
More than 2,850 constituents signed the petition in Nigel Farage’s seat of Clacton.
Meanwhile, 618 signatures were recorded in Sir Keir Starmer’s constituency of Holborn & St Pancras.
The petition comes after yet more fury at Sir Keir’s Government over alleged breaches of Labour’s 2024 manifesto.
Sir, who denied breaking any of his pre-power pledges, continues to see Labour’s support slump in the polls after announcing £26billion in tax hikes.
A separate petition calling for an immediate snap poll received 3,084,715 signatures when it closed on May 20.
MPs will debate the petition in Westminster Hall on January 12.
Tory MP John Lamont will open the debate, with Sir Keir sending a Government Minister to respond.
The Cabinet Office has already rejected calls for an immediate General Election.
“This Government was elected on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election,” a Cabinet Office spokesman said.
Our full focus is on fixing the foundations, rebuilding Britain, and restoring public confidence in Government.”
The petition, which closed on December 5, ended with a total of 1,059,230 signatures
|
PARLIAMENT
Despite MPs being given the opportunity to debate the petition, it is incredibly unlikely that Britons will go to the polls anytime soon.
Under the now-repealed Fixed Term Parliaments Act, the Prime Minister needed to pass a vote to hold a national poll.
The Dissolution & Calling of Parliament Act restored the Prime Minister’s ability to call a General Election via the Royal Prerogative.
A no-confidence motion could theoretically force a General Election, although the composition of the Commons makes such a scenario incredibly unlikely.
Sir Keir Starmer is facing a tough test in May
|
PA
The last time a Prime Minister was defeated in a confidence vote came in 1979, when James Callaghan lost by one vote ahead of Margaret Thatcher’s first General Election victory.
There have only been two other confidence votes lost by the Government in the House of Commons over the course of the 20th century, with Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald both suffering defeats in 1924.
Both Boris Johnson and Theresa May more recently avoided being added to the Commons humiliation list by seeing off no-confidence votes by majorities of 109 and 19, respectively.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir entered No10 off the back of a huge landslide, giving the Prime Minister a so-called super-majority in the Commons.
However, Sir Keir came close to facing his first shock parliamentary defeat last month after rebels plotted to revolt over his now-axed proposals to slash £5billion from Britain’s ballooning benefits bill.
The Prime Minister is hoping to turn Labour’s fortunes around ahead of a tough set of local elections in May.
Labour looks set to lose large swathes of seats across England, Scotland and Wales in a make-or-break moment for Sir Keir’s premiership.
However, Reform UK is preparing to launch legal action after the Government announced it would delay mayoral elections for 5.4 million voters.