TUC boss suggests Burnham could call an early general election to free himself from economic shackles of Labour's 2024 manifesto

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By DAVID WILCOCK, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR

Published: 08:57 BST, 11 September 2026 | Updated: 08:57 BST, 11 September 2026

Andy Burnham could call a snap election before Christmas to allow him to make drastic Left-wing changes to economic policy, a union boss has suggested.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak suggested the PM could act to free himself from the fiscal shackles of Sir Keir Starmer's 2024 election manifesto.

While Chancellor John Healey, who will present his first Budget next month, has said the new regime is continuity Labour, Mr Burnham came in promising major change.

Mr Nowak wants the prime minister to bring in a wealth tax on firms and go further with Labour's workers rights splurge despite fears that it could damage the still-fragile economy. 

Speaking to GB News before the TUC conference, he said: 'I don't think that the public are battering down Andy Burnham's door in Downing Street, saying, ''Let's have a general election''. We've got to get through the first budget.

'Let's see Andy's 10-year plan. He might decide, actually, ''I've not got enough room within the manifesto to deliver the change that I think we need to see.'''

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak suggested the PM could act to free himself from the fiscal shackles of Keir Starmer's 2024 election manifesto

While Chancellor John Healey, who will present his first Budget next month, has said the new regime is continuity Labour, Mr Burnham came in promising major change 

General secretary Paul Nowak called for a series of measures to help workers ahead of the body's annual conference next week.

In a series of interviews, he backed more taxes on the financial sector, insourcing of public services and delivering new employment rights in full. 

Labour has already brought in a wave of new rights in the Employment Rights Act, including covering sick pay and paternity leave, with more measures making it harder for firms to sack due to come into effect next year.

But speaking to Politico, Mr Nowak said: 'I think it's entirely legitimate to say, at the next election, what is Labour's manifesto going to say about employment rights?

'The idea that the Employment Rights Act is the finished article in terms of UK employment law, that nothing else needs to change, I think clearly is not the case.' 

And speaking to the Press Association, he added: 'We have an economy that is not working for too many people, a tax system that is better at taxing people than wealth.'

But one group he wanted to escape any sort of financial restraint was trade unions, as he demanded they be exempted from any move to cap political donations.