A nurse who cancelled his Conservative Party membership and joined Labour has said Rishi Sunak should have “decency and respect for British people” and call a general election.
Marc Evans, 33, has voted for the Conservatives in consecutive elections since he left university but renounced his political party of more than a decade in the midst of Boris Johnson’s partygate scandal in May this year.
Mr Evans, after five years of Conservative membership, joined Labour and said its leader Sir Keir Starmer would be “necessary change” for the country instead of MPs “who do not represent the British people”.
“They are an utter disgrace,” Mr Evans, who lives in Bristol, told the PA news agency.
“It seems like they’re in a sinking ship and they’re trying to plug holes.
“Rishi Sunak is now the successor of the successor of Boris, who won the election in 2019 – I don’t think he’s got the mandate to govern, I think there should be a general election now.
“I think he needs to have the decency and respect for the British people… We’ve had 12 years of Conservative rule (and) the country is in turmoil.”
Mr Evans described feeling “let down” by the mini-budget unveiled by Liz Truss’s administration that sunk the pound and plunged the UK into deeper financial crisis.
He considers himself “a traditional conservative” but believes the Tories are now “representing their own interests or the interests of the ultra-wealthy” rather than the British public.
“I do think (my views) are now completely detached from where the Conservative Party is,” Mr Evans said.
“They’re not listening to the British people and they’re not trying to understand where people are coming from and the struggles that people are going through.
Mr Evans also said he feels “let down” by the Tories.
“As a nurse… I’ve just been paid for this month, my mortgage has just come out and my other bills have just come out and I’m just about to go back into my overdraft,” he said.
“I’ve used food banks, I feel I’ve got no support at the moment and I just feel completely let down and trapped by the system at the moment as well.
“My wage is decent compared to some in this country but I still feel that I’m really struggling and there will be a lot of people out there a lot worse off than myself.”
Mr Evans said Sir Keir Starmer’s speech at the Labour Party conference in September “stood out” to him as “being a new direction that we need to take”.
“The message from Labour at the moment is clear, it feels consistent, it feels calm,” he said.
“Giving Keir Starmer a chance and actually listening to what he had to say at the Labour Party conference, I think that really stood out to me as being a new direction that we need to take, that we need to make these fundamental changes.
“Whereas the message coming from the Conservative Party does seem rash and unorganised, and dishevelled.”
Mr Evans suggested Mr Sunak, who is set to become prime minister after an audience with the King on Tuesday, should call a general election and “accept defeat”.
“I don’t think it’s possible for them to claw their way back right now, I think they are too far gone,” he said.
“I think what they need to do is give the public what we want which is a general election.
“They need to admit defeat as it looks fairly certain they will lose heavily.
“They need to then regroup and refresh and think carefully about how they can get the public back on board at future elections.”
