Senior Downing Street advisers are reportedly pushing Andy Burnham to call an early general election next spring amid hopes Labour could secure another majority.
The Telegraph reports that several senior figures believe a spring vote could offer Labour its best opportunity, with one government source saying there was a “diverse opinion across Government” over the timing but that the party would be “naive not to be contemplating all scenarios”.
A YouGov constituency-level poll of 14,000 people, conducted between August 23 and September 18, put Labour on 241 seats, 85 short of a majority, with the Conservatives on 130, Reform UK on 123, the Liberal Democrats on 71 and the SNP on 40.
Sources close to John Swinney said the SNP’s price for supporting a minority Labour government would be a second independence referendum, while Liberal Democrat sources did not rule out a confidence-and-supply agreement or formal coalition.
However, Burnham has repeatedly ruled out an early election. A No 10 source said: “One person in Downing Street makes the decision and he has ruled out an early election.”
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