Liz Truss resignation: Sheffield politicians call for general election over ‘revolving door of chaos’ at No 10

The Prime Minister said outside 10 Downing Street today (Thursday, October 20) that she was standing down after just 44 days in office because she “cannot deliver the mandate” on which she was elected by her party.

Her decision follows chaotic scenes in Parliament last night, with allegations that Rother Valley Conservative MP Alexander Stafford was physically hustled through the voting lobby for a fracking vote, and increasing calls by Tory MPs, including Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Miriam Cates, for Liz Truss to go.

That comes on top of the sacking of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng over the disastrous mini budget and the departure of Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Louise Haigh, Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley, said: “The Conservative Party has shown it no longer has a mandate to govern.

“After 12 years of Tory failure, the British people deserve so much better than this revolving door of chaos. In the last few years, the Tories have set record-high taxation, trashed our institutions and created a cost-of-living crisis. Now, they have crashed the economy so badly that people are facing £500 a month extra on their mortgages. The damage they have done will take years to fix.

“Each one of these crises was made in Downing Street but paid for by the British public. Each one has left our country weaker and worse off.

“The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people. They do not have a mandate to put the country through yet another experiment; Britain is not their personal fiefdom to run how they wish.

‘A year of Tory incompetence’

“The British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future. They must have the chance to compare the Tories’ chaos with Labour’s plans to sort out their mess, grow the economy for working people and rebuild the country for a fairer, greener future. We must have a chance at a fresh start. We need a general election – now.”

Sheffield Central Labour MP Paul Blomfield said: “The Prime Minister resigning after a mere 44 days in office is the latest shambles in a year of Tory incompetence and chaos. We need a general election now, to give the country a voice.

“We can’t be subjected to the Conservatives infighting and catalogue of failures any longer – the country is in crisis with inflation spiralling along with the cost-of-living. We need real leadership with Labour.”

Cllr Douglas Johnson, Sheffield City Council Green Party group leader, said: “What a government of chaos, as the dominoes tumble! This would be funny had the Conservatives not managed to wreck the economy, leaving many people struggling with much higher food, fuel and housing costs.

“The only way anyone can have a mandate to govern the country now is with a general election and let the people decide , not a small number of Conservative Party members.

“Meanwhile, Green councillors in Sheffield and across the country will continue to do what we can to stand up for our communities, tackle the climate emergency and work hard for a better future for us all.”

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