MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The voters demand an election, Mr Burnham - so let them have one

Published: 23:31, 18 July 2026 | Updated: 23:41, 18 July 2026 Unseen hands have wafted Andy Burnham to the doorstep of Downing Street, where he now stands poised for power. Unseen hands have destroyed his forerunner Sir Keir Starmer, who must still be wondering exactly what – and exactly who – hit him. Mr Burnham says the removal of Sir Keir wasn’t his doing, so we must accept that. Indeed, judging by Sir Keir’s farewell, the Labour Party got rid of him purely because they loved him so much and thought him so wonderful. How much electricity was needed to pump all the insincerity out of the Palace of Westminster, once that ceremony was over? No doubt the Net Zero enthusiast Ed Miliband will be checking up on this. Has there ever been such an accidental, secretive, slippery and unexplained transfer of power in modern Britain? North Korea’s political process (you have to be called Kim to succeed) is more open than Mr Burnham’s miraculous unscrutinised ascension. The King must be more than mildly astonished to have learned that his existing Prime Minister has suddenly fallen, and he must attend on the majestic whim of the King of the North tomorrow to have his hands kissed. The monarch must feel a bit used. Mr Burnham has already done his real obeisance, to the enduring spirit of pre-Blair Labour, at the Trades Union Congress headquarters on Friday. How telling it was that Neil Kinnock, the man voters were too scared to put into Downing Street back in 1992, was there as an honoured guest to give his blessing to the enterprise. Are we now going to discover what a Kinnock government would have been like? Well may the striving classes fret and tremble, if so. As The Mail on Sunday’s Find Out Now poll shows, voters are understandably worried that the transition will mean higher taxes, while they would overwhelmingly prefer lower spending. They see little to hope for in any of Mr Burnham’s possible choices for Chancellor, and why should they? Is there anyone anywhere near Labour’s front bench who understands economics, and who also realises that national spending and borrowing are out of control? It doesn’t look like it. No wonder the same poll shows growing support for a General Election. People simply are not prepared to accept that a local poll in Makerfield, and a comradely coronation at the TUC, are enough to give Mr Burnham the right to rule Britain. A Mail on Sunday poll shows growing support for a General Election after Andy Burnham becomes PM In many cases voters will be suffering severe remorse from having put Labour in power two years ago, by wasting their votes on Reform, which never had any chance of winning. Much emotional fog has cleared away since that contest. Reform, after a brief period of apparent good luck, has begun to crumble, as things with weak foundations tend to do. Nigel Farage looks weary and embarrassed. But Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party shows signs of real recovery and of a serious desire to get back into office and do the sensible things that Andy Burnham won’t do. A real election, with proper debates, serious questioning of candidates, clear manifestos and an actual vote, is badly needed. Let us have one.