Badenoch claims Labour is preparing for a general election in May 2027 – UK politics live
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:
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Zack Polanski is expected to call for a triple lock-style guarantee for private renters in his keynote speech at the Green party’s annual conference this afternoon, to ease young adults’ housing costs.
-
Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early.
-
Downing Street has clarifed that Andy Burnham is not siding with Manchester City in its finance scandal dispute with the Premier League – after in an interview yesterday he implied he was.
Key events
Polanski to use conference speech to call for triple lock-style guarantee to limit rent rises
Badenoch claims Labour preparing for a May 2027 general election
Zack Polanski is expected to call for a triple lock-style guarantee for private renters at his party’s annual conference in Brighton today, to ease young adults’ housing costs.
The Green party leader’s speech will set out plans for a “three-year emergency brake”, which would temporarily limit rent rises to the lowest of either Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation, wage growth or 2%.
“For too long, landlords have been able to hike prices way beyond wages,” Polanski is expected to say. He will describe “25-year-olds who can’t find a job, no matter how many tens or hundreds of applications they put in, who can’t imagine ever being able to afford to rent even a room of their own, never mind being able to put down roots in their own home”.
The party leader will also describe “30, 35-year-olds moving back to their parents’ place with their partners in tow, sometimes their kids too”, warning that for many of them “times get tougher and those months turn to years”.
Polanski is expected to say:
Today I’m calling for a three-year emergency brake on private rents – no rent rises above CPI, wage growth or 2% – whichever is lower. No sudden hikes, no evictions under the guise of rent rises, no more fear and uncertainty.
That emergency brake would give renters vital breathing space. Let wages begin to catch up with the rents that have outstripped them for too long.
And give government time to develop a national fair rents guarantee – to keep rents fair and affordable for everyone, forever.
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:
-
Zack Polanski is expected to call for a triple lock-style guarantee for private renters in his keynote speech at the Green party’s annual conference this afternoon, to ease young adults’ housing costs.
-
Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early.
-
Downing Street has clarifed that Andy Burnham is not siding with Manchester City in its finance scandal dispute with the Premier League – after in an interview yesterday he implied he was.
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