‘Knock that dead’: Burnham rules out calling early election 

Andy Burnham has said the next election will be in 2029 as he ruled out an early snap vote during interviews with local broadcasters. 

In an interview with ITV North West and Yorkshire, Burnham confirmed that the next General Election would take place at the end of this parliament. 

Reports suggested that Number 10 was considering calling an election next year as the Prime Minister looks to shore up a mandate for social care reforms and offer himself more leeway on tax hikes. 

Asked about speculation around an early election being called, he told ITV: “I can knock that dead”. 

“Yes, [2029]’s when the next election will be,” Burnham added. 

“You know people want me new in office to be getting on with the job of delivering on the things that we’ve discussed in this interview rather than putting self-serving politics before that, which was what I would be doing if I called an election. I’m not going to do that.”

In another interview with BBC East Midlands, Burnham said a straight “no” when he was asked whether there would be an election in May. 

Burnham speaks on London and Khan

The string of interviews with regional editors precedes the Labour Party conference, which starts on Sunday. The Prime Minister will address party members on Tuesday afternoon. 

He told interviewers that he wished to boost devolution further and hit back at Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s criticism of government policy, claiming Britain was “open for business”. 

When he was questioned on a possible temporary nationalisation process for Thames Water, Burnham said he was “looking at all of the options” yet added privatisation for water companies has “got to change”. 

“Alongside Chile, we are the only country in the world that has gone down the path that we’ve gone down and we’ve ended up in the wrong place in relation to the running of the water system. You can see that in so many ways with the leaks that people face, the sewage in our rivers and in our seas, but now the bills that people are paying,” he said. 

“It’s a system where the shareholders never lose and the public never win and that’s got to change.”

In an interview with BBC’s London branch, Burnham said he did not take support for Labour in the capital “for granted” and worked “every single day to justify people’s support”. 

He also hit back at questions about whether he still had good relations with mayor Sir Sadiq Khan after he was asked about housebuilding figures collapsing in London. 

“I recently have agreed with mayor Sadiq Khan a huge package of housing funding, particularly to see the wave of council house building across London than we’ve seen. 

“I’ve agreed that since coming into office and I think your question is unfair to Sadiq Khan as well as it’s unfair to the government, because we’ve just agreed that and it will make a massive difference.” 

He also said he would “always support” Khan to be the next Labour candidate in London.