Majority of Britons want the new prime minister to call a general election, new poll shows

Two-thirds of Britons want a general election as soon as possible, a poll has shown.

The poll, run by YouGov on Thursday - the same day Liz Truss announced her resignation - found that 63% of people are fed up with the current administration and believe the new PM should call an early general election.

Just a quarter (23%) thought the opposite - that a new prime minister should not call an early election - while 15% said they didn't know.

The YouGov poll, which quizzed 2,066 British adults, comes as the UK woke up on Friday to yet another Conservative Party leadership race following the departure of Truss. Rishi Sunak, Penny Mordaunt and Boris Johnson have been touted as the most likely candidates.

As of Friday afternoon, roughly 50 Tory MPs have publically declared for Sunak or Johnson, while Mordaunt has around 20.

Of those who thought any new PM should call a general election as soon as possible, the poll found that 90% were Labour voters and 73% were Liberal Democrats, compared to just 38% who were Tory supporters.

Remainers were also bigger supporters of an early general election, making up 77% of those wanting one compared to 47% who were Brexiteers.

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The breakdown of those who voted that a new leader should not call a general election was 52% Conservatives, 13% Lib Dems, and just 4% were Labour voters.

Younger people were also more likely to want an early general election, according to the poll.

Of those who think a new prime minister should call one, 71% were aged 18-24 and 74% were aged 25-49. The proportion dropped in older voters, with 56% of 50-64-year-olds agreeing, and 45% of those aged 65 and over.

Watch: Who will replace Liz Truss as prime minister?

On Friday, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Conservative MPs have a "patriotic duty" to call for an early general election.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The Conservative Party have shown they’re unfit to govern our great country. We don’t need another Conservative prime minister lurching from crisis to crisis. We need to get rid of them…

"I think the Conservative MPs now need to do their patriotic duty and work with the opposition parties to get that general election so that British people can have their say".

But he said despite being divided, the Conservatives would "probably try to cling on to power", adding: "They may try and stitch something up but I don’t think it will last."

Supporters of Boris Johnson have suggested that he is the only leader with a mandate from a general election, and also the only leader capable of winning a future election for the Tory party.