KEIR Starmer has dismissed a petition calling for a General Election which has gathered two million signatures, saying that is “not how our system works”.
The Prime Minister brushed off the viral campaign, which has accused Labour of breaking promises made before the July election.
'That isn't how our system works' Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer reacts to a petition calling for a general election which has over 2 million signatures It is clear from the petition data that many of the signatures are not genuine pic.twitter.com/IM45M1ogR5
— ITVPolitics (@ITVNewsPolitics) November 25, 2024
Labour’s popularity has plummeted since coming to power, with YouGov’s opinion tracker showing that 56% of the public disapprove of the Government’s record at the latest count.
Speaking on ITV’s This Morning on Monday, the Prime Minister was asked about the petition, which has reached support of more than 5% of the electorate in some UK constituencies, Starmer dismissed calls for another election.
Starmer said: “I remind myself that very many people didn’t vote Labour at the last election. I’m not surprised that many of them want a re-run, that isn’t how our system works.
“There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in in the first place. What our focus is on is the decisions that I have to make every day.”
Host Andi Peters asked: “But surely you want us, the public, to trust you, to like you, to think, ‘he’s the man for the job, he’s doing what he needs to do’?”
Peters added that Starmer’s approval rating was lower than that of Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Starmer said: “The thing is, if you make your mind up, as I have done, that we’re going to do the difficult things first, then I think it’s inevitable that people do feel they’re decisions. I mean, I understand that.”
According to YouGov, Farage enjoys a "popularity" rating of 39%, putting him behind former prime minister Boris Johnson on 41%. YouGov's ratings have Tory shadow education secretary Laura Trott as Britain's most popular politician on 42%.
