UK opposition demands general election amid Boris Johnson ‘farce’
- Labour leader Keir Starmer said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ‘must finally find a backbone, call an election … this farce must stop’
- Three MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, including Johnson, have quit since Friday, triggering three by-elections for a government languishing in the polls
UK opposition leader Keir Starmer on Sunday demanded a general election as three MPs from the ruling Conservative Party, including Boris Johnson, quit parliament following a probe into Covid lockdown-breaking parties.
Labour leader Starmer tweeted that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “must finally find a backbone, call an election, and let the public have their say on 13 years of Tory failure.
“This farce must stop. People have had enough of a shambolic Tory government and a weak prime minister no one voted for.”
Johnson announced on Friday he was leaving as a member of parliament, claiming he had been forced out in a stitch-up by his political opponents.
The 58-year-old has been under investigation by a cross-party committee about whether he deliberately lied to parliament over parties during the pandemic when he was in office.
As the committee prepares to make public its findings, Johnson said they had contacted him “making it clear … they are determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of parliament”.
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