‘Resign the Whip if Liz Truss Refuses To Go’ Lib Dem Candidate Tells MP

Published on: 19 Oct, 2022
Updated on: 21 Oct, 2022

Zoe Franklin and Angela Richardson MP

By Martin Giles

Guildford’s prospective Liberal Democrat candidate at the next general election has called on Guildford’s Conservative MP to back up her words with action and resign the Tory whip if the prime minister refuses to resign.

Today (October 19), Angela Richardson, who has represented Guildford in Parliament since her election in 2019, repeated her call for PM Liz Truss to resign saying: “At a time of uncertainty both at home and abroad, it is vital that we have a prime minister that commands the confidence of MPs and of the general public.

“Therefore, I am concerned that the recent financial decisions as part of the mini-budget and the subsequent reaction in the financial markets have resulted in the loss of confidence in the incumbent prime minister.

“As a result of this, it is with great sadness that I believe that we have now reached the point where the position of the prime minister is no longer tenable, and that it would be in the national interest for a swift change in leadership to be undertaken.

See also: Guildford’s MP Calls for PM to Resign and a Further, Fast Track Leadership Election

Lib Dem Ms Franklin largely agrees. She said: “It is clear Liz Truss must resign before any more damage is done. People’s mortgage bills have already spiralled by hundreds of pounds because of this government’s botched budget.

“Angela Richardson may have called for the PM to go but she must now back up her words with action and resign the Conservative party whip. Otherwise, Truss, like her predecessor Johnson, will think she can cling on to her role as PM while the actions of her and her government cause deep and lasting damage to our economy.“

And she parts company with Guildford’s MP when it comes to the full solution to the current situation. Ms Richardson has called for a new Conservative leadership election while Ms Franklin says: “Britain now needs a General Election but Conservative MPs are putting their own interests above what’s best for the country and are blocking that from happening.”

She continued: “Nobody across Guildford and Cranleigh voted for massive cuts to our local NHS and schools. This has all happened because the Conservatives chose to give unfunded tax cuts for the biggest earners and the wealthiest companies. 

“The next election in Guildford constituency will be a clear choice between four more years of an out-of-touch Conservative party, or a hardworking local Liberal Democrat MP.”

But Ms Richardson said she appreciated that there will be differences of opinion on this matter and expressed her gratitude, “to those who have chosen to share [their] views with me.

“First and foremost, my priority is and always will be to deliver positive outcomes for constituents across Guildford, Cranleigh and our villages, whether they voted for me or for another candidate, and I will continue to work to achieve this.”

The Lib Dems claim that a new MRP opinion poll from Opinium has predicted the Liberal Democrats would defeat the Conservative Party in Guildford constituency if an election was held soon. 

The poll is said to reveal the Liberal Democrats as the clear challengers with Labour and the Green party a very distant third and fourth on just 21 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.

Nationally, the poll shows dozens of ‘’Blue Wall” seats falling to the Lib Dems, following the mini-budget.

At the last election the Lib Dem Zöe Franklin was 3,337 votes behind the Conservative Angela Richardson.

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