People are angry. So it’s hardly surprising that an online petition set up by fed-up publican Michael Westwood calling for a general election has caught the public’s imagination. They feel lied to.
Since this Government came to power, it has managed to spectacularly upset pensioners, farmers, students, the care sector, UK hospitality, bus users, anyone that runs a business and numerous others besides.
The public feel duped as they see an aloof and arrogant government using its whopping majority in Parliament to introduce policies that nobody voted for because they were not in the Labour manifesto. We are only five months into this administration, and it’s becoming a textbook example of how not to run a country.
Drinkers in my local pub tell me they see a Prime Minister who says there are tough times ahead but gets his swanky suits and trendy glasses bought for him by a wealthy Labour donor. They see a man who seems disconnected from the concerns of people outside the Westminster bubble and who lacks any form of charisma.
Personality matters in politics and Sir Keir Starmer struggles to reveal he has one. In media interviews, he bristles at critical questions, at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons he comes across as pious and patronising.
He needs to take note of the popularity of this petition – which has now attracted more than two million signatures in a matter of days. Whilst legally it cannot trigger a General Election, the petition does show a real level of disappointment, dissatisfaction and anger on behalf of a vast and growing chunk of the electorate.
Further discontent lies in recent polling that shows support for Labour has fallen to a new record post-election low.
The sharks are always circulating in politics, and there are plenty out there, including Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and a revitalised Conservative Party under Kemi Badenoch.
This petition is sending a clear message to Downing Street and they need to hear it or otherwise appear further tone-deaf to the mood of the nation.
Most Governments enjoy a honeymoon period when they enter office, in this case, the bride and groom never left the church. Given its current behaviour, this Government will only last one term in office and I doubt that Starmer himself will even last the course.
Duncan Barkes is a political commentator and former aide to Nigel Farage
