Members of the Conservative party have called for a general election to take place after Boris Johnson withdrew his name from the leadership contest yesterday.
Johnson said in a statement last night that, despite securing the 100 nominations required to get onto the ballot paper, he would no longer be seeking a return as Prime Minister - adding that it would “simply not be the right thing to do”. Now that the former PM has quit the race to Number 10, the new leader could be announced as early as today - with Rishi Sunak the top contender for the job after Liz Truss resigned last week.
Former Chancellor Sunak is said to be on the verge of becoming the next Prime Minister , with his only contender Penny Mordaunt still looking to secure the 100 nominations she needs to enter the leadership contest. However, in the wake of the latest twists and turns in the leadership contest, some Tory figures - and close allies of Boris Johnson - have now begun calls for an election, The Mirror reports .
READ MORE: Liz Truss timeline: UK Prime Minister's 44 days from appointment to resignation
Former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport under Johnson’s tenure, Nadine Dorries, said that an election would be “impossible to avoid” - blaming Sunak and Mordaunt for Johnson having to pull out of the race. Dorries tweeted: “Boris would have won members vote - already had a mandate from the people.
“Rishi and Penny, despite requests from Boris refused to unite which would have made governing utterly impossible. Penny actually asked him to step aside for her. It will now be impossible to avoid a GE.”
Meanwhile, Minister for International Environment and Climate Zac Goldsmith joined calls for an election. He tweeted on Sunday afternoon: “I don’t see how we can have a 3rd new Prime Minister - & a policy programme that is miles away from the original manifesto - without going to the country.
“Conservative MPs understandably won’t want to and are legally not obliged to, but it will be morally unavoidable.” The calls come as Labour leader Keir Starmer urged the Tories to back an election, insisting that the country “cannot have another experiment at the top of the Tory party.”
On Sunday, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Lisa Nandy said Conservative backbenchers should act on principle and trigger an early election by a vote in the Commons. The MP added that it was a “tragic fact” that the “future of this country lies in the hands of a small number of people who are currently putting party before country”.
READ NEXT:
