Rochdale Lib Dems "ready" for early General Election

Rochdale Lib Dem Leader, Councillor Andy Kelly, has claimed local Liberal Democrats are ready for an early General Election. He has called for the Conservatives to call a General Election in the light of Teresa May's coronation as Prime Minister on Wednesday. He has been joined by Tim Farron MP, Britain's longest serving leader of all the mainstream parties.

The contest to become the Leader of the Conservative Party had been expected to last 12 weeks. Andrea Leadsom, Teresa May's expected challenger caused a sensation when she dramatically pulled out of the race. Now the Conservative backbench "1922" committee are expected to announce the handover of Britain's Premiership from Prime Minister David Cameron to Teresa May this week.

Councillor Kelly said: "It was bad enough that 150,000 Conservative members were about to choose a Prime Minister. That though would have been a extremely small mandate but at least some mandate. Now we are set to get a Prime Minister chosen by just 199 Members of Parliament. I don't think that's right and I feel that Teresa May has no moral authority nor mandate to lead us without asking the country. Here in Rochdale people will be very angry if they don't get a chance to play a part in the decision. People will remember the last time this happened. When Gordon Brown took over from Tony Blair, he stumbled from one catastrophe to the next - culminating in the infamous Mrs Duffy episode here in Rochdale."

Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the Conservatives would have to vote "no confidence" in her leadership and wait for 14 days, voting down any alternative attempt at forming a government. They may be tempted to do this quickly to take advantage of the current disarray of the Labour Party.

Andy said: "We've been busy preparing for an election since Christmas as Rochdale has a special set of circumstances; that being the position of Simon Danczuk - our town's controversial MP. We have been building up our organisation in anticipation. Our membership is at its highest since 2005 - we have also seen a rise in membership of nearly 20% since the EU Referendum results as people reach out to the Liberal Democrats."

Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron MP in calling for an early General Election said: "The Tories now have no mandate. Britain deserves better than this."