I’m a Labour minister – but it is time for an election

Britain has become trapped in an era of political churn.

- MIKE TAPP Mike Tapp is Labour MP for Dover and Deal and Home Office minister

Too often, our political system appears incapable of providing the stability, accountability and long-term leadership that voters expect from those they elect to govern the country.

Over the past decade, prime ministers have come and gone with remarkable frequency, yet the British people have rarely been given a direct say in these changes. Leaders have been chosen by MPs, removed by MPs and replaced by MPs, while the electorate has been left watching what can feel like a game of Westminster musical chairs.

Although these transitions have taken place within the rules of our constitution, there is a growing question as to whether they are healthy for a modern democracy that increasingly revolves around national leaders as much as local representatives.

This is not an entirely new problem. Britain has seen prime ministers leave office between elections before, from the resignation of Neville Chamberlain during the Second World War to the departure of Margaret Thatcher in 1990. Yet what was once an occasional feature of parliamentary politics has become a recurring pattern.

Modern politics has subjected the country to multiple leadership contests, abrupt resignations and changes of direction, often without the public being consulted. In the space of just 10 years, we have seen six prime ministers, which is likely to be in large part why governing has become so difficult.