Former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has warned that the UK could be 'tipped into a general election' if Andy Burnham replaces Keir Starmer as prime minister. Speaking at the Hay literary festival, Harman said Burnham might feel the need to secure his own mandate, especially if Nigel Farage accuses him of being a 'usurper'.
Harman stated: 'There is a scenario in which the new leader, let's call him Andy Burnham, for example, actually thinks: I need a new mandate, rather than just manage the implementation of Keir Starmer's mandate. And if he were to have a big surge in the polls, he might think that in that case, he should go for a general election.' She added that the country might find itself 'not only with a new prime minister, but somehow tipped into a new general election.'
If Burnham wins the Makerfield byelection on 18 June, it could pave the way for a leadership challenge where he would likely be the frontrunner. Harman expressed her support for Burnham winning the byelection and returning to Westminster, but she does not want a leadership challenge or another general election. 'Stability is such a fusty and unsexy proposition, but actually, I think people just want to get on with their lives, get on with their businesses, get on with things, and chopping and changing looks kind of chaotic at the top,' she said.
Harman, whom Starmer appointed as an adviser on women and girls after Labour's poor results in recent local and devolved elections, said she sometimes wondered if she was 'the only person on the planet' in favour of letting a prime minister 'crack on with doing it, short of misconduct.'
She also noted that if Burnham becomes leader, Farage would likely claim that the country wants a new prime minister but not Burnham, calling him a 'usurper.' To avoid the fate of Gordon Brown, who did not call a snap election after succeeding Tony Blair and saw his popularity decline, Burnham might call a general election.
Harman, who served as deputy leader under Brown and Ed Miliband and as interim party leader in 2010 and 2015, also dismissed the notion that Britain is 'ungovernable.' She said the job of prime minister is 'very tough' but not impossible.
