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Rishi Sunak was given the title of Conservative Party leader today (October 24) after a short internal competition between himself, ex MP Mr Johnson and Penny Mordaunt. The three fought to win at least 100 MP backers but only Sunak came out with a large enough majority to be declared the new Prime Minister.

He is expected to take office early next week after meeting with King Charles III . Sunak will be the UK’s first Prime Minister of British-Asian descent.

Many members of the public are now calling to bring forward the general election which would not normally take place until 2025. The country has seen three new Prime Ministers in just three years - Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak.

Rishi Sunak will be the next prime minister of the UK.

Liz Truss lasted only 44 days in office which makes her the UK’s shortest serving Prime Minister.

On top of the chaos at Westminster there is also a cost of living crisis which is impacting millions of people across the country. Energy bills, food prices and mortgage payments are all rising just as the cold winter weather is approaching.

Now that the new PM is in place the conversation around general elections is in full swing. Boris Johnson dropped out of the race yesterday even after a large ‘Bring Back Boris’ campaign was launched by his supporters. He claimed to have the support of 102 Tory members but decided to step down, and in his statement he said: “A general election would be a further disastrous distraction just when the government must focus on the economic pressures faced by families across the country.”

Sunak himself has not yet addressed the general election rumours publicly but it has been reported that he privately told the 1922 Committee that the party needed to “unite or die” in the coming weeks.

Rishi Sunak is replacing Liz Truss who was prime minister for 44 days.

The Star asked its readers how they felt about the chance of an early general election.

Helen Claire wrote: “We definitely need a general election” and Rob Hamilton said: “General elections are imperfect but they are far more democratic means of choosing a leader than allowing Tory leaders to pass the baton without any say from the public.”

Emily Brook commented: “We need to have a massive shake up! The government isn’t serving the people at all at the moment” and Sue Thomas said: “We need a coalition where the government works for the countries and all of the people’s best interests.”

But not everyone is in favour of a general election. Richard Bloor said: “We have a long running term for political parties. General election every five years. You can’t change it.”

Now that Rishi Sunak has won the leadership race many have turned their attention to a general election.

Eugene Solomon wrote: “No general election. The Tories have screwed the country, why should Labour have the responsibility of sorting it out for them?”

Jimmy Mcqueen commented: “They need to settle down and run the country. They don’t need a general election.”

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