Prime minister Andy Burnham has ruled out calling a general election in the next 12 months amid ongoing speculation that he could seek to consolidate his position.
Hours after delivering his first Budget with chancellor John Healey, Burnham said he was thinking “about people” and not “my own party and its prospects”.
The prime minister was asked if he would call an election in the next year as he visited a community centre in central London after the Budget.
He said: “I don’t know how many times I’ve done this now, but yes, I can rule out calling a general election in the next 12 months.
“I have said repeatedly since coming into this job, I’m not thinking about myself. I’m not thinking about my own party and its prospects.
“I am thinking about people, and I’m thinking about what I can do to help them to have that care for people, which I spoke about on my first day in Downing Street.”
Burnham added that he was “leading from the front” and “putting Britain on a different path”.
He said: “We’ve got a 10-year plan to come, and that will inform the spending review next year. These are my priorities, not looking at our own internal party political advantage.”
The latest figures from Ipsos show that Andy Burnham’s party is now eight points clear of the Conservatives for voting intention, at 32 points to 24. Reform UK is placed third on 20 points in the poll.
An aggregate of recent polls collected by The Independent now puts the governing party on 28 per cent, with Reform on a downward trend at 22 per cent, and the Conservatives steadily rising at 21 per cent.
Nigel Farage, speaking at a press conference in Westminster, said that the Budget “was a retail Budget aimed at an early general election”.
The Reform UK leader added: “It doesn’t overall do very much, but it attempts to please a very large number of people.”
But Farage said the Chancellor’s delivery was “assured”, adding: “It was in a different league to the two efforts by Rachel Reeves.”
A Conservative Party spokesman also appeared to suggest they thought a snap poll was coming.
Referring to measures unveiled in the Budget, Farage said: “When you look at the fact that the fuel duty has been extended to July, that the VAT cut on bills has been extended to July, one might ask what’s happening in June.”
In a Budget firmly aimed at easing the soaring cost of living, chancellor John Healey also announced that a cut to VAT on electricity would be extended to July, changes to the first time Buyer ISA and a reversal of Rachel Reeves’ cut to the cash ISA limit.
Millions of households set to receive £100 to help with soaring energy bills and tax breaks for high street firms.
The government is left with £15bn in headroom by the 2029/30 financial year despite recent rises in bond yields causing headaches on public spending levels, with Mr Healey having pledged to remain fiscally responsible and with Labour’s longer-term ambitions to bring the debt level down.
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