Nearly Half Of Brits Want A General Election When Burnham Becomes Prime Minister

Nearly half of British voters want an early general election when Andy Burnham becomes prime minister.

A poll by YouGov also found that roughly the same number believe he should face a Labour leadership contest before entering No.10.

Burnham is all-but certain to automatically become PM next month after nominations close in the race to succeed Keir Starmer.

Cabinet minister Darren Jones became the latest senior Labour figure to announce they would not be standing and instead threw his weight behind Burnham.

It came just two days after another hopeful, former health secretary Wes Streeting announced that he was also backing the former Greater Manchester mayor.

Former armed forces minister Al Carns is the only remaining possible rival to Burnham, but it is highly unlikely that he would be able to muster the 81 nominations he would need to enter the race.

Assuming no one else challenges him, Burnham will become PM next month, just weeks after returning to Westminster as the new MP for Makerfield.

It is still less than two years since Starmer won a landslide general election victory.

That means that the country does not need to go back to the polls again until 2029.

However, the YouGov poll found that 48% of voters believe there should be another election once Burnham is in place, compared to 35% who do not.

The poll also revealed that 46% think he should have to face a leadership contest rather than a coronation, with just 23% believing he should be appointed unopposed.

Only 15% think Burnham will be a good prime minister, the same number who think he will be terrible, YouGov found.

And while 21% of people say they are more optimistic about the UK’s future with Burnham in charge, 43% said it will make no difference, and 24% are more pessimistic.

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.