Andy Burnham guidelines out snap election as Labour surge in polls
The new PM said he wanted to ‘draw a line’ and his attention was on bringing ‘hope’ back to people’s lives, rather than forcing them into yet another general election
Andy Burnham has ruled out an early election(Image: Getty Images)
Andy Burnham has ruled out calling a snap election and vowed to focus on the cost of living.
The new PM said he wanted to knock the speculation “dead”, and that his attention was on bringing “hope” back to people’s lives, rather than forcing them into another election.
It comes after several reports suggested his close advisers had discussed the prospect of an election as early as next year.
Labour are currently leading the polls, enjoying a “Burnham bounce” as support for Reform UK collapses.
Mr Burnham was running a gauntlet of regional media interviews as he gears up for his first party conference as Labour leader.
Asked by ITV Calendar’s Fred Dimbleby if the next election would be in 2029, the PM replied: “Yes, that’s when the next election will be. All of this speculation on an early election, I can knock that dead.”
Asked by BBC West’s political editor Paul Barltrop whether he was tempted to call an election, Mr Burnham insisted he wasn’t.
He said: “I see all the speculation and it just races ahead. And, you know, the media love to do that. No, no election any time soon.
“I’m focused on the job as Prime Minister doing what I said I would do. I will lay out a big speech in Liverpool next week, which will say further about the direction I want to take the country in the coming period.
“The focus is on that: helping people with the cost of living, helping businesses with the costs of running a business.
“These have got to be the priorities right now rather than throwing the country into a backward-looking process where we are arguing again amongst ourselves.
“The time has come, draw a line, get the country looking forward, pulling together, people feeling a bit of hope in their lives again, that’s what I’m trying to do and I hope to take it further in the coming period rather than putting people back into an election cycle.”
Earlier this week Reform UK was handed yet another blow after polling suggested they are on course to win fewer seats than both Labour and the Tories at the next general election.
A YouGov study found that Nigel Farage ’s party would end up with 123 MPs if an election were held now, which is well down on the 311 forecast from a similar poll just one year ago.
The poll shows Labour would be the largest party on 241 seats, with the Tories second on 130. It represents a major turnaround for the Labour party, with YouGov previously predicting under Keir Starmer ’s they’d win just 144 seats.
