Liz Truss resignation: Dewsbury Baroness Sayeeda Warsi calls for General Election saying: “We are a serious nation in the middle of serious crisis and we need a serious government.”

Speaking on Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4 today (Thursday), Baroness Warsi said: “There are so many issues for us to be dealing with and all we have is a party beating itself up, not governing in the national interest and treating it almost like a bit of a game.

“I think we’ve reached that point now where we have to go back to the country.

“We were elected on a manifesto we are no longer implementing and if we want to implement a different set of policies then we need to have the public vote and a mandate to do that otherwise we need to stop governing.”

Asked by presenter Steph McGovern whether she wants a general election even though the polls suggest the Conservatives wouldn’t win, Baroness Warsi responded: “That’s the point of democracy, isn’t it?

“As a Conservative, of course I want my party to win, but if what the country is saying is that the way you are governing, and the policies upon which you are governing, we the country do not support you, then we do not have a right to govern against the public’s interest. Which is where we are now.

“And if we believe what we are doing is right, then have the courage of your convictions and go back to the country and say this is what we want to do on your behalf, we want you to vote for us. And if they don’t, that’s democracy.”

Discussing a possible replacement for Prime Minister Liz Truss, Baroness Warsi said: “We can’t just become a party that’s have-a-go PM! People can’t just keep coming along almost saying I want to have a go now for a few days and I want to have a go for a few months… It's chaotic.

“We are a serious nation in the middle of serious crisis and we need a serious government.”

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi was speaking on today’s (Thursday) Steph’s Packed Lunch on Channel 4, which airs weekdays at 12.30pm.