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Swing seats back another election

(Photo: Getty)

For more than a decade, viral petitions demanding an immediate election were the preserve of Remainiacs and much of the Twitter left. So with Labour now in government, it is to no surprise then that it is now much of the right which is demanding another vote. A parliamentary petition to ‘call a general election’ has gone viral overnight, thanks to supportive posts by Elon Musk (who else?) among others. Numbers currently stand at more than 650,000 signatories: six times higher than the threshold of 100,000 required for a parliamentary debate. Wonder what the government response will be eh?

Such petitions rarely, if ever, succeed in their goal and those hoping to see Keir Starmer swept out of office will probably have to wait another four and a half years at least. But there is an interesting sub-plot to this petition with the number of signatures by constituency giving some flavour of the strength of feeling around the country.

Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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