A petition to Parliament calling for an immediate general election has passed a huge milestone. The online document now has more than 200,000 signatures. At the time of writing it had garnered 216,943 supporters.

In setting it up, Robert JF Barnes wrote: “On July 4 2024, Sir Keir Starmer was elected as Prime Minister. Since then, his Government has introduced measures that were not included in the Labour Party’s manifesto. We believe we were misled and the obfuscation has only got worse since Starmer took power.

“It is time for action. We believe the Government has failed to defend our borders from the small boats. We have no confidence in the way this Government has acted. Pensioners and farmers have been directly affected by policies that were not included in Labour’s manifesto. Our country cannot go on like this. Dissolve Parliament and call a General Election now!”.

Petitions with 10,000 signatures get a response from the Government.

Those that get 100,000 are considered for debate in the House of Commons by MPs. But one will not be held over Mr Barnes’ petition, officials have confirmed.

The Petitions Committee “recognised the support that this petition has received”, they said. “However, the issue raised by this petition has recently been discussed by MPs in a petitions debate on this topic.”

This discussion took place on January 12, and can be viewed here.

It comes as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has ruled out a snap general election if he were to become the Prime Minister following a win at the Makerfield by-election.

Sir Keir has faced calls from the former Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, and other MPs for him to resign since the Labour Party suffered huge losses at the local elections in May.

The Cabinet Office said in response to Mr Barnes’ petition in January: “The Government holds office by virtue of being able to command the confidence of the House of Commons, whose members are elected by the public. There are no plans to change these arrangements.

“The Prime Minister can call a general election at a time of their choosing by requesting a dissolution of Parliament from the Sovereign within the five-year life of a Parliament. The Government was elected by the British people on a mandate of change at the July 2024 general election.

“This Government remains focused on delivering the change the country voted for at the last General Election. Since coming into office, we have restored stability across government; and secured £340 billion of investment into our country.

“Wages under this Government have increased more during our first year in office than under the previous 10 years of the last government. We have reduced NHS waiting lists by 225,000 and rolled out thousands of free breakfast clubs across the country. We have also increased the National Minimum Wage and our manifesto pledge to introduce an Employment Rights Act has now been passed into law.

“We recognise people across the country want to see change in their everyday lives. As a result of the decisions this Government has taken, families will see £150 come off their energy bills this year, rail fares will remain frozen for the first time in 30 years and NHS prescription charges will be capped below £10.

“The Government will continue to deliver the manifesto of change that it was elected on.”