More than 200,000 people sign petition demanding General Election

A petition calling for a general election has exceeded the amount needed for a response from the government and needed to be considered for a debate in in parliament.

The online petition has surpassed 200,000 signatures, at the time of publication, after being widely shared on social media since being created on Wednesday.

It smashed through the 100,000 mark today which is the amount needed for it to be considered for a debate in parliament.

A petition needs 10,000 signatures for a government response.

Set up by Michael Westwood, the petition reads: 'I would like there to be another General Election.

'I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead up to the last election.'

The government website reads: 'Petitions which reach 100,000 signatures are almost always debated. 

'But we may decide not to put a petition forward for debate if the issue has already been debated recently or there’s a debate scheduled for the near future.  If that’s the case, we’ll tell you how you can find out more about parliamentary debates on the issue raised by your petition. 

'MPs might consider your petition for a debate before it reaches 100,000 signatures.'

It comes following a difficult week for the the government as farmers took to the streets in protest o voice their objections to the inheritance tax measures announced in the Budget.

And in a recent poll it revealed that Keir Starmer's approval ratings have plummeted by 43 points since he entered Downing Street.

The Prime Minister has defined his brief premiership with 'tough choices' on public spending - including cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance for millions of pensioners and ending the £2 bus fare cap.

But the latest approval ratings from think tank More in Common suggest his pessimism is turning off voters who gave him an electoral landslide in July.

The proportion who feel he is doing a 'somewhat good' or 'very good' job minus those who think his performance is 'somewhat bad' or 'very bad' is at negative 38. Sir Keir started his time in No 10 positively, with a plus five approval rating. 

This rose as high as eleven in August as he rode the wave of optimism.

But since a fall in September, the Prime Minister has failed to recover his own personal ratings.