UK's Liberal Democrat Party To Submit No-Confidence Motion In Rishi Sunak Government

Britain's Liberal Democrat party said on Monday it would submit a parliamentary motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government to force a June general election following heavy losses for the ruling Conservatives in local elections.

The Conservatives lost 474 local council seats in last week's elections, according to a BBC tally, with the main opposition Labour Party gaining 186 and the Liberal Democrats expanding theirs by 104.

The crushing results have prompted fresh calls for Sunak to call a national election. He has previously said he intends to call a vote in the second half of the year.

However, a no confidence motion will likely face defeat even if it is allowed to be voted on as the Conservatives still have a majority of seats in parliament's elected lower house.

"These local elections showed the country has had enough of Rishi Sunak and his out-of-touch Conservative Government," Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said in a statement stating the party would submit the motion on Tuesday.

The government is not expected to provide parliamentary time to debate confidence motions if they are brought forward by opposition parties other than the official opposition, which is currently Labour.

Traditionally, governments that have lost a confidence vote have either resigned to pave the way for an alternative administration, or the Prime Minister has requested a dissolution from the monarch, triggering a national election.

The last time an election was forced by a no confidence motion was in 1979, when the then Labour Prime Minister, Jim Callaghan, lost the vote in parliament and requested a dissolution.

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