Keir Starmer has told Rishi Sunak to “pack up, go home and waste somebody’s else’s time” as he accused the prime minister of running “scared” from voters.
Speaking during PMQs, the Labour leader demanded Sunak hold a general election as soon as possible. “We’re ready, just call it,” he said.
The prime minister last week ruled out holding an election on May 2, the same day as the local elections.
He repeated again today that his “working assumption” was the election will be in the second half of the year”.
Labour has long held a comfortable lead over the Tories and, based on current polls, look set to win a sizeable majority.
Sunak has until January 2025 to hold the election, but it is widely assumed he will go to the country in October or November.
And Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, yesterday dropped a strong hint October was the target date.
The abysmal Tory poll numbers have led to increased speculation Tory MPs could even try and remove Sunak before then.
“Why is the PM so scared to call an election?” Starmer said. “He’s so diminished his entire focus is stopping his MPs holding the sword of Damocles over his head. Perhaps even literally in the case of the leader of House.
“Half his cabinet are lining up to replace him.
“The mortgage mayhem, the waitings lists, the criminals walking free, they are the cost of Tory chaos.
“If they can’t bring themselves to stop the endless games and gimmicks and stop putting themselves before country, they should pack up, go home and waste somebody else’s time.”
Penny Mordaunt, the Commons leader, has been named in multiple reports as a potential replacement for Sunak.
The PMQs battle came ahead of a showdown this afternoon, when Sunak will meet Tory backbenchers at a meeting in parliament.