Following the announcement that Rishi Sunak will succeed Liz Truss seven weeks after she defeated him in the previous Tory contest, Rochdale MP, Tony Lloyd, said: “Rishi Sunak hasn’t said a single word about how he would run the country, yet despite this Tory MPs have ‘crowned’ him as Prime Minister without anyone having the chance to vote in this decision. 

“As Chancellor, Mr Sunak failed to grow the economy, failed to get to grips with inflation and failed to help families in Rochdale and across the country with the cost-of-living crisis.  

“It wasn’t too long ago that he was caught on video boasting that the Tory government siphoned taxpayers’ money away from “deprived urban areas” into wealthy ones. 

“He was the Chancellor who made sure ‘levelling up’ was just another empty Tory slogan, and now he’s a Prime Minister with no mandate and frankly, no idea what the people of Rochdale need.  

“The reality is that this country needs a general election because the public should be in charge, and we will put the case forward for a fresh start with Labour.”

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