BRAINTREE’S MP insists the only way to resolve the current “paralysis” in Parliament is through a General Election.

Voters are set to head to the polls on December 12 after MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding the first December election since 1923.

It comes after the European Union granted a second extension to the Brexit deadline earlier this week and means the UK is now set to leave the bloc on January 31.

James Cleverly has welcomed news of a General Election and has rejected fears of a low turn-out at the polls due to voter apathy.

The Conservative Party chairman said: “The big problem with the last General Election in 2017 was people couldn’t really see why we were having one and, if I’m honest, our message as a party wasn’t clear.

“But now you can see there is a real need for an election because Parliament is in a state of paralysis and is just tying itself in knots.

“We are in a position where MPs aren’t letting us govern and they weren’t even letting us sort out this mess in Parliament because they kept blocking an election.

“I think that was incredibly discourteous to the British people.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed numerous times to trigger a General Election before the majority of the House of Commons voted in favour of one on Tuesday.

With an election now called, Mr Cleverly, who will be looking to retain the Braintree seat he first won in 2015, says voters want to see the back of Brexit as soon as possible so the country can move forward and concentrate on other issues.

He added: “It has been incredibly frustrating to be an MP lately.

“I didn’t sign up to politics to have endless rows about procedures like we’ve been doing.

“I got into it to tackle things like the A120, the NHS, policing and schools - things which are really important to people and are part of their day-to-day lives.

“When I have been talking to people, they say they are really frustrated and angry that the Prime Minister has negotiated a deal, got rid of the backstop which was causing lots of problems, brought it back to Parliament and then seen MPs vote against it.

“What we are saying is we want to get Brexit done, which is what everyone promised at the last election. That’s the only way we can move past this issue.

“We have got other things we want to do on behalf of the British people and we need a sustainable working majority to be able to do that.”