Nearly three million people have signed a viral petition calling for a new general election due to Labour and Sir Keir Starmer's "broken promises."

With a resounding 174-seat majority in the House of Commons, the Government surged to power with a huge majority in the July national poll.

Critics noted, however, that Labour only received 33.7% of the vote, which is only 1.6% higher than the party received when Jeremy Corbyn was soundly defeated in 2019.

Do Britons approve or disapprove of the government's record to date?

Approve: 19% (-1 from 16-18 Nov)
Disapprove: 58% (+2)
Net: -39 (-3)https://t.co/EDgUC06xT3 pic.twitter.com/asdDHxELc9

— YouGov (@YouGov) November 26, 2024

Since then, the government has fallen to all-time lows in terms of popularity, with polling firm YouGov reporting a net approval rating of -39.

Controversial decisions to cut winter fuel payments to pensioners and slap inheritance tax charges on farmers have soured Labour’s reputation in the eyes of many.

As a result, pub landlord Michael Westwood launched his “Call a General Election” petition on Parliament’s petitions website.

“I believe the current Labour Government have gone back on the promises they laid out in the lead-up to the last election,” he wrote.

By law, petitions on the parliamentary website that attract more than 100,000 signatures must be debated by MPs. A discussion is scheduled for January 6 in the House of Commons.

But Mr Westwood’s petition quickly surpassed that threshold, hitting two million earlier this week – although opponents have claimed many of those signatures are from people abroad.

The petition is now at more than 2.9million and could surpass three million this weekend, with Elon Musk among the high-profile figures sharing it on social media.

Mr Westwood told the Express last week: “Not in my wildest dreams did I think this was going to take off like it has.”

He said Rachel Reeves’s tax-raising Budget, which will hike costs for small businesses like his due to rises in the living wage and employers’ National Insurance contributions, had caused his fury.

However, during an interview on ITV’s This Morning, Sir Keir dismissed the petition, saying he was “not surprised” his opponents wanted a second poll.

“That isn’t how our system works,” he added.