A petition calling for a new general election in Britain has reached more than 1.7 million signatures, as the Labor government faces widespread condemnation over its policies and post-poll work. Even Tesla boss Elon Musk weighed in on the issue by reposting a message about the success of the petition. According to the guidelines, any petition asking for a change in law or policy will receive a response from the government after 10,000 signatures. After 100,000 signatures, the petitions are eligible for debate in parliament.
“I would like to see a general election again. I believe the current Labor government has gone back on the promises it made in the run-up to the last election,” the Prime Minister said. petition description reads.
At the last update, the petition had already collected 1,771,423 signatures. The petition was started by Michael Westwood, the owner of Britain’s ‘cheapest pub’. He said he couldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams that Musk would cite after his petition.
“The General Election petition has now DESTROYED its target of 200,000 people within six hours – just after midnight in Britain. The British people are about to completely humiliate the Labor Party,” said the message shared by Mr Musk.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2024
Meanwhile, Mr. Westwood, the owner of the Wagon and horses pub which sells pints for $2.90, said the Labor government’s actions were “nothing like what was promised” in the manifesto.
“I think people have had enough, people have also seen what has happened in America, and I think this has had a domino effect: if people stand together and vote, we can make a change,” said Westwood. Emphatic.
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Declining popularity
According to one Ipsos According to opinion polls, the Labor government has seen its fortunes dwindle rapidly after the general election earlier this year, which also saw Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s popularity take a nosedive. Nearly half (49 percent) of the public have an unfavorable opinion of the Labor Party, which is three points behind the Conservative Party. Meanwhile, two in five Brits think they are worse off since Labor came to power.
A significant majority (56 percent) believe Britain was going in the wrong direction, compared to just 19 percent who think things are on the right track – suggesting there was widespread public pessimism.