I’m not tempted to call an early election, Andy Burnham says

Burnham heads to his first Labour Party conference as prime minister this weekend, with speculation over the prospect of a snap election likely to be a topic of conversation among some of those attending the event in Liverpool.

Labour has been projected to lose its majority but remain the largest party in the House of Commons if there was a snap election, according to recent polling.

It comes amid media reports that some of the PM’s advisers have been weighing up the prospect of an election as early as next year.

But Burnham sought to rule out this prospect during interviews with BBC regional political editors ahead of the conference opening on Sunday.

Asked by BBC West political editor Paul Barltrop whether he was tempted to call an early poll, Burnham replied: “No, not particularly. No, I’m not.

“I see all the speculation and it just races ahead,” he said.

He added: “No election anytime soon. I’m focused on the job as prime minister, doing what I said I would do.”