The Liberal Democrat party of Britain announced on Monday that it is preparing to file a parliamentary motion for no confidence in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. The move aims to force a June general election in the wake of significant losses for the ruling Conservatives in recent local elections.
According to reports, the Conservatives lost 474 local council seats in last week’s elections. In contrast, the main opposition Labour Party gained 186 seats, and the Liberal Democrats increased their count by 104.
Although PM Sunak has previously stated his intention to call a vote in the second half of the year, the no-confidence motion is expected to face defeat. This is due to the Conservatives still holding a majority of seats in the parliament’s elected lower house. Also, the government is not expected to allocate parliamentary time to debate confidence motions brought forward by opposition parties other than the official opposition, currently the Labour Party.
The last instance of an election being forced by a no-confidence motion was in 1979 when then Labour party’s Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan, lost the vote in parliament and requested a dissolution.
