Andy Burnham has left the door open to calling a snap general election as he arrived in the capital to be sworn in as the member of Parliament for Makerfield.
Mr Burnham, who officially became an MP this afternoon, previously called for a snap general election back in 2022 – when Liz Truss abruptly resigned as Prime Minister in a similar fashion to Keir Starmer’s resignation just this morning.
Mr Burnham had posted #GeneralElectionNow on X, then Twitter, when Rishi Sunak succeeded Ms Truss without going to the country for a vote.
Arriving at London Euston from Manchester at around 1.30pm this afternoon, Mr Burnham failed to rule out the prospect of a snap election when questioned by reporters.
He said: “I think you’re jumping several hurdles there. My priority today is to be sworn in as the MP for Makerfield, and it’s been very kind of sad for me today to leave Greater Manchester.”
“The people have been brilliant to me over the past few years. I’ve loved every minute of the role. I hope I leave Manchester in a better place. But thanks very much indeed.”
His comments come after Sir Keir Starmer announced his exit outside Downing Street this morning, with a leadership contest now on the cards for July.
A new Prime Minister is set to be installed by September 1 when Parliament returns from recess – although Mr Burnham could take the top job by July 16 if no other contender emerges.
If he takes the keys to No10, the “King of the North” will have the power to call a snap election by asking the King to dissolve parliament.
Labour rivals Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch have today called for a snap general election, citing the importance of giving the nation a vote, and showing distrust in Mr Burnham’s ability to change trajectory.
Mr Farage said: “The British public have made their voices clear in May this year and last – Britain is broken and they want a radical reforming government that will fundamentally fix our country.
“But instead, Westminster wants to crown Andy Burnham off the back of a single by-election. I’m not frightened of Andy Burnham or any of the other Labour Party stooges.”
The Reform UK leader likened Mr Burnham’s potential appointment to the “chopping and changing” of Conservative Party leaders prior to Labour’s 2024 victory, claiming a general election should have also happened back then.
“They seem to think that it is perfectly acceptable to chop and change Prime Ministers at will. This is how the uniparty operates. The truth is that they are frightened of us”, he added.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “If Andy Burnham is not able to fund the Defence Investment Plan, then we should have a general election.
She said: “The reason why Keir Starmer has had to resign is because his Defence Secretary said he was not looking after national security.”
She cited the issue of national security and defence as a key concern for her party, which she fails to believe Mr Burnham will arrive with a solution for.
“Not funding a Defence Investment Plan is a national security issue, so if Andy Burnham doesn’t have any answers on national security, then we should have a general election now”, Ms Badenoch added.
“We should have a general election if Andy Burnham is not able to set out how he is going to keep our country safe.
“I have made an offer to Andy Burnham, saying I will help him with 170 Conservative votes, because we know that the Labour Party is now the welfare party.”
