Petition calling for general election due to Labour 'broken promises' hits over 2 million signatures

An online petition demanding a fresh general election has garnered over 1 million signatures, with thousands joining the call every minute. The petition was initiated by small business owner Michael Westwood, who expressed his belief that voters feel "betrayed" by Labour. He says the "promises that were told" before the July election are not reflecting the current reality.

The petition has received support from political figures such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who remarked he had "never seen anything like it" after witnessing 750,000 people sign up within a day. Upon reaching the one-million mark, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Robert Jenrick commented: "One million people express their anger that Labour lied".

Elon Musk chimed in on a post on X, noting the petition had "broken the record for the fastest time to reach 100k signatures" and calling it "interesting".

Petitions which gain over 10,000 signatures must receive a response from the government, while those surpassing 100,000 are often considered for debate in Parliament. Mr Westwood, added: "I think people have had enough, people have seen what's happened over in America as well, and I think that's had a knock on effect that, actually, if people stand together and vote then we can make a change."

"It's about fighting back against all the increases in taxes and the cost of inflation."

Highlighting his role as a small business owner, he said: "As a small business we've got to fight back and try and help the people around us and the community."

Asked about the petition during an interview on ITV’s This Morning, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Look, I remind myself that very many people didn’t vote Labour at the last election. I’m not surprised that many of them want a re-run. That isn’t how our system works.

“There will be plenty of people who didn’t want us in in the first place. So, what my focus is on is the decisions that I have to make everyday.”

Labour has been accused of breaking its promises in a number of policy areas. The Government promised in its election manifesto not to increase taxes on “working people”, saying: “We will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of income tax, or VAT.”

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an increase to employer National Insurance contributions at the Budget, which ministers have admitted will be passed onto workers in the form of lower pay rises.

While the petition could be debated by MPs, it almost certainly will not lead to an early general election as it is not binding and Labour can effectively ignore its demands

A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “This Government was elected just a few months ago with an overwhelming mandate to deliver change. The sooner those who lost accept that, the better.”