A motion of no confidence in the government will be tabled tomorrow in the wake of the Tories’ local elections disaster.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said it was time for a general election to kick out “Rishi Sunak and his out of touch Conservative government”.
If it was passed by MPs, the motion would trigger a general election.
The Conservatives lost more than 1,000 seats as well as control of nearly 50 councils in last Thursday’s local elections.
By contrast, the Lib Dems gained more than 400 seats and seized control of 12 more councils.
Davey said: “Time’s up for Rishi Sunak and his out of touch Conservative government.
“The local elections showed that the public clearly has no confidence in Sunak or the Conservatives, so it’s time for a general election now.
“There’s only one reason Rishi Sunak would deny British people a say at the ballot box: because he is running scared and knows he’d lose.
“It’s time for these out of touch Conservatives to face the music for their appalling failures on the cost of living, the NHS, sewage and so much more.”
The last time a motion of no confidence in the government was passed by the Commons was in 1979, when Jim Callaghan’s Labour government was brought down.
Culture secretary Lucy Frazer yesterday tried to blame the war in Ukraine and the pandemic for the Tory local election losses.
But defeated Tory candidates remain angry at what has been described as the “non-existent” national election campaign.
HuffPost UK has learned that one local Conservative association chair wrote to colleagues saying the results were “not a reflection on us, it was part of the national picture”.
Others are scathing about party chairman Greg Hands, who spent much of the campaign trying to troll Labour on Twitter over the infamous “there’s no money left” letter left by Liam Byrne in 2010.
“That wasn’t particularly funny in 2010 - it’s even less so 13 years later,” said one disgruntled Tory adviser.
Asked today whether he would apologise to the Tory councillors who lost their seats, Sunak said: “It’s always disappointing to lose hard working Conservative councillors and I said that at the time.”
The PM said he would “work night and day” to achieve his priorities.