Burnham says no to calling a general election, but says he wants voting reform

Andy Burnham has said he will not call a general election if he becomes British prime minister, but revealed he will seek to persuade Labour to put voting reform in its next manifesto.

The Makerfield MP, is now widely regarded as prime-minister-in-waiting, as no other candidates to succeed Sir Keir Starmer have stepped forward.

On Friday evening, he took part in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) on the social media site Reddit, after facing flak for refusing to take questions from journalists following his one major speech of the leadership campaign so far.

For someone who could be in No 10 on July 20th, Burnham has received little scrutiny over his policy platform, and has given only one interview, on Thursday evening with LBC.

His responses on Reddit gave some insight into how he might lead the country from behind the door of Downing Street.

One user asked the MP: “I assume you’re going to call an election? If not, why not?”

Burnham replied: “No. As I said in my speech on Monday, I’m going to work to the 2024 manifesto.”

He similarly suggested he would stick to the 2024 Labour manifesto when asked about whether he would scrap the pensions triple lock, which protects the rate at which the state pension rises.

“I appreciate there’s a lot of debate about this but it is important that the commitment in the manifesto stands,” Mr Burnham said.

Elsewhere, Burnham suggested he was still a strong supporter of reforming how Britain’s electoral system works.

He has previously expressed support for replacing Britain’s first-past-the-post system with a form of proportional representation.

Asked about his opinion on electoral reform on Reddit, he said: “I am a strong supporter of electoral reform, partly because I believe it will enable the change to a more collaborative politics, and one that is less about point-scoring and more about problem-solving.

“I will seek to persuade my own party of the need for a manifesto commitment to it in the next manifesto.”

Labour’s party conference voted to support moving towards a proportional representation voting system in 2022.

The party’s 2024 manifesto instead focused its electoral and constitutional changes on extending voting to 16 and 17-year-olds and House of Lords reform.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticised Mr Burnham’s approach to the media, accusing him on Friday of “running away from being asked questions” by journalists.

She also posted on Reddit to ask the Makerfield MP a question, writing: “Hi Andy, Kemi here.

“Whilst you’re answering softball questions on Reddit, I’ve been in Yorkshire answering questions from the press.

“You’re going to be prime minister soon so it’s time to start acting like one.

“Come out from hiding, face a proper press conference and submit yourself to scrutiny and some tough questions.

“Are you up for it?”

Burnham responded: “Fair challenge, Kemi – but don’t forget it’s only two weeks since I faced questions from 74,000 members of the public in Makerfield!”

The likely next prime minister also hinted at how he might govern in the realm of foreign policy.

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He said he would “100%” give the same level of support to Ukraine as Sir Keir Starmer had, and suggested he wanted to continue with the outgoing Prime Minister’s efforts to broker a closer relationship with the EU.

In his first interview since Sir Keir announced his resignation, Mr Burnham said there was room for movement on tax despite pledging to keep Labour’s 2024 manifesto commitments not to increase workers’ income tax, national insurance or VAT rates.

He told LBC there was room within the manifesto’s restrictions to increase taxes on warehouses to help high street businesses such as pubs.