𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The prospects of Keir Starmer triggering a snap General Election have moved a step nearer after a petition demanding one amassed more than 860,000 signatures.

The petition demands an immediate General Election be called and has attracted some 864,936 signatures as of Monday evening.

It surpassed the 100k threshold required for MPs to consider it in early August and now has just another 24 days remaining before a date gets confirmed for parliamentary discussion.

The appeal, which received a response from Downing Street, encourages backers who share the belief “we want an immediate general election to be held. We think the majority need and want change” to register their support.

The number of people endorsing the petition on Parliament’s official petition platform surged to approximately 137k in early August before rocketing to a staggering 640k by August 12, reports the Daily Star.

It leapt to 680k signatures the following day.

The petition, launched by someone named Nicola Cree, must now face parliamentary debate when MPs return from their summer break, marking the second time a call for a fresh contest following last year’s July 4 general election has hit the parliamentary discussion threshold on the official petitions website within the past year. The government dismissed the idea of holding an election in a comprehensive response to the petition on August 11.

It stated that it was elected on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election and was focused on “fixing the foundations, rebuilding Britain, and restoring public confidence in government.”

It read: “On entering office, a £22 billion black hole was identified in the nation’s finances. We inherited unprecedented challenges, with crumbling public services and crippled public finances, but will deliver a decade of national renewal through our five missions: economic growth, fixing the NHS, safer streets, making Britain a clean energy super-power and opportunity for all. This is what was promised and is what we are delivering.”

Earlier in January, MPs debated another similar submission after it gathered 2.8 million signatures. The initial election petition didn’t trigger another national poll but gave Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch ammunition to ridicule the PM during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons.

She proclaimed it showed “two million people asking him to go”. Sir Keir retorted by describing the July 4 election result last year as a “massive petition” in its own right.

In the previous year’s general election, Labour secured 412 seats, a stark contrast to the Tories’ 121.

However, Sir Keir’s party only managed to secure 33.7% of the vote share, barely more than the 32.2% achieved by Jeremy Corbyn in his disastrous 2019 election campaign and significantly less than the 45% Tony Blair attained for his Labour victory in 1997.