Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Labour is preparing for a general election as early as May 2027, despite the prime minister ruling out an early contest. Just last week Andy Burnham said he would not call a national vote before 2029, despite speculation that Labour’s revival in the polls could tempt him to go early. But Badenoch said the fact that so many of the pledges in his conference speech would not come into place until after the next general election points to a spring vote.
Ahead of the Conservative party conference next week, the leader of the opposition said: “We could be having a general election next May.” All the policies he announced are for after an election. So if he’s not calling an election, why is he talking about things happening in 2030? He says a lot of things with a smile but I actually think that he’s got very different plans for us and for our country.
This is an era of political volatility and multi-party politics. When an election is called and I do think Andy Burnham is going to call an election sooner than he is saying. Talk of an early election had grown during the last week after polls showed Labour pulling into the lead with support in the low 20s, and the Conservatives and Reform neck-and-neck a few points behind them.
Westminster sources said Downing Street advisers and MPs had been discussing the merits of an early poll but that even though the right was split, Labour would be at risk of losing its majority and having to form a coalition. Zack Polanski is expected to call for a triple lock-style guarantee for private renters in his keynote speech at the Green party’s annual conference this afternoon, to ease young adults’ housing costs. Nigel Farage has claimed that Andy Burnham has given him “the biggest boost in my career” by reviving the Brexit debate, which the Reform UK leader said had reopened a “huge flank” to his party.
Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early. The turmoil in global bond markets has intensified amid fears the US deficit is reaching unsustainable levels, helping drive UK long-term borrowing costs to a 28-year high. Downing Street has clarifed that Andy Burnham is not siding with Manchester City in its finance scandal dispute with the Premier League – after in an interview yesterday he implied he was.
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