Speculation remains rife as to whether Andy Burnham will call an early election despite his team’s attempts to calm down jittery Labour MPs. There are some options…
A Budget is still expected in October. Westminster watchers say Burnham’s best shot is a spring 2027 polling day if he wants to go early. Getting a new manifesto after popular early steps, while Reform is still vulnerable – you can see the appeal…
The timeline could be as follows:
Spring is often a target for early election hunger because the days get longer and the weather begins to improve. One more unlikely option is an announcement in September:
This would allow a first Budget to come post-new manifesto. It’s likely that Team Burnham will wait longer to decide whether they want to go for it. But the options are there…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”