Ed Davey to table no confidence motion to force June General Election

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Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will table a motion of no confidence in the Government as soon as Parliament returns tomorrow, in a bid to force a June general election following Rishi Sunak’s terrible local election results.

The Liberal Democrats beat the Conservatives into third place at the local elections, gaining over 100 councillors and taking control of true blue councils Tunbridge Wells and Dorset.

The party is urging Conservative MPs to back the motion 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.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The Liberal Democrat draft motion 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.