Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed he is not planning to lead the UK into an early general election. He said he wants to boost people’s hope rather than plunge Britain into a snap election.
His pledge comes after rumours swirled that the PM’s advisers were looking into the prospect of an election as early as next year. Polls suggested that Labour would have remained the largest party, though without a parliamentary majority, if a snap election were held.
No election any time soon
Burnham assured there was ‘no election any time soon.’ The 56-year-old said he wanted to ‘draw a line’ and focus on helping people to feel ‘a bit of hope in their lives.’
When asked by BBC West’s political editor Paul Barltrop whether he was considering calling an election, the PM replied: ‘Not particularly. No, I’m not.
‘And I see all the speculation and it just races ahead. And, you know, the media love to do that. No, no election any time soon.
‘I’m focused on the job as Prime Minister, doing what I said I would do.
Priorities and a big speech in Liverpool
‘I will lay out a big speech in Liverpool next week, which will say further about the direction I want to take the country in the coming period.
‘The focus is on that: helping people with the cost of living, helping businesses with the costs of running a business.
‘These have got to be the priorities right now rather than throwing the country into a backward-looking process where we are arguing again amongst ourselves.
‘The time has come, draw a line, get the country looking forward, pulling together, people feeling a bit of hope in their lives again, that’s what I’m trying to do and I hope to take it further in the coming period rather than putting people back into an election cycle.’
Meeting with US President
Burnham met with US President Donald Trump in New York City during the UN General Assembly, the first meeting between the pair. The PM is said to have emerged from the meeting relatively unscathed, with Trump describing him as a ‘natural businessperson’ and saying he would be a ‘great’ leader.
