Keir Starmer calls for immediate general election after Truss resigns

Conservatives no longer have mandate to govern, says Labour leader

Sir Keir Starmer has called for an immediate general election in the wake of Liz Truss’s resignation, saying the Conservative Party had shown it no longer had a mandate to govern.

The Labour leader said: “After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos.

“In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages.

“The damage they have done will take years to fix.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.”

Conservative MPs will next week elect the third prime minister of the year.

A general election could be triggered if the new prime minister calls one or the government loses a confidence motion in Parliament.

The Labour Party is likely to try to time the tabling of a confidence motion to coincide with maximum Tory discomfort.

Sir Keir said: “The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people.

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“They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.

“The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future.

“They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future.

“We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”

This chart shows how Labour has widened its polling advantage over the Tories (Press Association Images)

The Independent has been campaigning for a general election this week, since it became apparent that Ms Truss could no longer hold the confidence of her party, resulting in turmoil.

Ms Truss’s resignation came just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was “a fighter, not a quitter”.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “We don’t need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis.

“We need a general election now and the Conservatives out of power.”

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said a general election was a “democratic imperative”.

She said it would be “ordinary people” who would be hit worst by the “utter shambles” at Westminster.

“There are no words to describe this utter shambles adequately,” she tweeted.

“It’s beyond hyperbole & parody. Reality tho is that ordinary people are paying the price.

“The interests of the Tory party should concern no-one right now.”

Labour former spin doctor Alastair Campbell joined calls for an election, suggesting people should protest in the streets if one was not called.