Recently installed British Prime Minister Andy Burnham ruled out calling an early election as opponents question the legitimacy of his administration.
In his first major interview since ascending to the top political post in the United Kingdom on Monday, Prime Minister Burnham attempted to defend his position, which he only gained due to a Westminster palace coup to oust his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, following the Labour Party’s disastrous performance in the local elections in May.
While the self-described socialist was not elected in the 2024 election and therefore did not run on the general election manifesto upon which the party was given power, he insisted that he would represent the voters who backed the party, and thus, no election was necessary.
Yet this may hamper his ability to splash out taxpayer cash on his pet projects, given the manifesto commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance, or the Value Added Tax (VAT).
“There is no general election, and the thing I would say to you is 20 plus, however many million people you just mentioned, voted for a manifesto. We’re in a parliamentary democracy, so that is what people voted for, and I will honour that manifesto,” he told the BBC.
Pressed on whether he would specifically rule out an early election — the next being scheduled for 2029 — Burnham replied: “I’m going to rule it out, yeah. There’s no early general election. I don’t think people want it.
“The opinion polls say some people do, some people don’t. But the thing is, I just think what I most need to do is get Britain focused on getting the country back where it should be, getting it working.”
The new Prime Minister also attempted to claim that he had already “faced the public” after he won a special by-election last month in the Manchester constituency of Makerfield, the seat of which was cleared for him to run for following the resignation from Parliament of anti-Breitbart activist Josh Simons.
However, opponents, including opposition leader Nigel Farage, have argued that the support of just 25,000 votes in Makerfield should not be enough to become prime minister.
The Reform UK leader has called on Burnham to hold a snap election, claiming that the PM has “no mandate whatsoever” after becoming Labour leader unopposed.
“You cannot make the biggest change in British politics in 40 years without a mandate from the British people. And it will be only decent, right, and proper to call a general election on that issue and to do it now,” Farage said earlier this week.
Contrary to the Prime Minister’s claims, a survey from Public First has found that a majority of the public (51 per cent) think that Burnham should “call and try to win an election to give his government legitimacy”. This was opposed to just 34 per cent who felt it was not necessary.
Not everyone is convinced that Burnham will wait until 2029 for an election, with the Conservative Party’s Shadow Home Secretary describing the Labour leader as a “political opportunist” and saying he will likely call a snap election as soon as he “gets a sniff” of an advantage.
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