The Liberal Democrats are set to table a motion of no confidence in the Government as soon as Parliament returns tomorrow, it has been reported.
Sir Ed Davey, who recently described the current ruling party as the worst Tory government “I’ve ever seen” in an exclusive interview with The London Economic, will try to force Rishi Sunak’s hand on calling a summer general election following a host of terrible local election results.
The Prime Minister is braced for a continued fallout after the weekend’s local election results, which saw his party unexpectedly lose the West Midlands mayoral race to Labour.
With the results of all 107 councils in England that held elections on May 2nd now declared, Labour managed to pick up 1,158 seats, an increase of more than 232.
But the Liberal Democrats beat the Tories into second place, winning 552 seats, up nearly 100, a result hailed by party leader Davey as “stunning”.
The party is now urging Conservative MPs to back their motion of no confidence and give the British people a chance to give their verdict on the Government.
Ed Davey, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “These local elections showed the country has had enough of Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch Conservative Government.
“The Conservatives were pushed into third place for the first time in a generation as Liberal Democrats swept the board in former true blue heartlands.
“Yet Sunak continues to desperately cling on to power, holed up in Downing Street until the bitter end.
“Conservative MPs need to wake up and smell the coffee, and back giving the country the election it so desperately wants and needs.
“The longer this appalling Government stumbles on, the worse it is for the NHS, people’s living standards and our environment.”
A draft motion submitted by Ed Davey’s party reads: “‘That this House has no confidence in His Majesty’s Government.’
“By convention, if the Prime Minister loses a vote on it he will have to ask the King to dissolve Parliament, triggering a general election.”
The last time a Government lost a confidence motion was James Callaghan’s Labour Government in 1979, forcing an election five weeks later.
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