Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch says Labour is preparing for a general election as early as May 2027, despite the prime minister ruling out an early contest.
Just last week Andy Burnham said he would not call a national vote before 2029, despite speculation that Labour’s revival in the polls could tempt him to go early.
But Badenoch said the fact that so many of the pledges in his conference speech would not come into place until after the next general election points to a spring vote.
Ahead of the Conservative party conference next week, the leader of the opposition said: “We could be having a general election next May.”
She added:
All the policies he announced are for after an election. So if he’s not calling an election, why is he talking about things happening in 2030?
He says a lot of things with a smile but I actually think that he’s got very different plans for us and for our country.
She added:
This is an era of political volatility and multi-party politics. When an election is called and I do think Andy Burnham is going to call an election sooner than he is saying.
Talk of an early election had grown during the last week after polls showed Labour pulling into the lead with support in the low 20s, and the Conservatives and Reform neck-and-neck a few points behind them.
Westminster sources said Downing Street advisers and MPs had been discussing the merits of an early poll but that even though the right was split, Labour would be at risk of losing its majority and having to form a coalition.
In other developments:
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
