Zöe Franklin joins Lib Dem demand for Immediate General Election

In Parliament, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey has tabled a motion of no confidence in Rishi Sunak’s Government to force a June General Election.  

Zöe Franklin said: “How long can this zombie Conservative government limp on, what is the Prime Minister waiting for? 

“The longer this humiliated shambles of a Government carries on, voters are becoming angrier, and all the while our vital public services continue to decline. 

“Voters in Woking got the chance to have their voices heard in the Borough Council elections. The message couldn’t have been clearer. The Conservatives were wiped out. 

“There isn’t a single Conservative councillor left, and only one Labour representative.”

Nationally, the Liberal Democrats won control of councils in Dorset and Tunbridge Wells. The Conservatives lost more than 450 councillors, leaving the party third, behind the Liberal Democrats, in the total number of Councillors.  

Zöe Franklin continued: “Despite the Conservatives quietly changing the voting system for our Police and Crime Commissioner elections, taking away voters’ rights to a second preference vote, support for the Liberal Democrat candidate increased by 11%, leaving our candidate Paul Kennedy a very close second in the Guildford consituency, and across Surrey. The Labour candidate trailed a distant third. 

“During the campaign, people told us they are desperate for change. Across the country, voters wanted to send a message to the Conservatives that their time is up. And these results show us that the Liberal Democrats are the only party which can make that happen here. 

“The Prime Minister can put off the General Election for now, but he’s running out of time. “Limping on for whatever unfathomable reason is an insult to us all. Whenever he’s forced to recognise he can’t continue any longer, we are ready to bring the change, fresh ideas and hope, that people in Guildford and our villages want and deserve. 

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP added:  

“Conservative MPs need to wake up 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.”