Kemi Badenoch predicts Burnham will call election in December

Kemi Badenoch has predicted that Andy Burnham will call a general election this December, describing the prime minister as a “gambler”.

Speaking on LBC Radio‘s phone-in with Iain Dale, the Conservative leader said an early poll was likely, despite expectations that the election will be held in 2029.

“I think it’s this December”, Badenoch said. “I think Andy Burnham is a gambler. I think he might fancy his chances, but we fancy ours as well.”

Asked whether she would welcome an early election, Badenoch said she had already set out a condition under which the prime minister should go to the country.

She responded: “I’ve said that if he cannot fund defence, which he needs to fund by cutting welfare, then he should call an election. That’s why John Healey resigned [as defence secretary]. He said the money that was going into defence was not enough.”

The timing of general elections is governed by the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022. This act repealed the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, which had introduced fixed five-year terms and set out specific conditions for an early election. The 2022 act restored the previous system, effectively returning the power to choose the election date to the prime minister. 

By law, the latest possible date for the next general election is 15 August 2029.

Asked whether she would prefer a coalition with the Liberal Democrats or Reform UK after an election with no clear winner, Badenoch answered: “Neither. We would have to have another election.”

She noted that two elections were held in one year in 1974.

Badenoch added that the 2010-2015 coalition had stopped the Conservatives from delivering promises because of “concessions” to the Liberal Democrats, and “nobody thanked us for it later.”

The Conservative leader stated: “We need to be able to deliver what we promise to the public, and I am very keen to show that you can actually go into politics, say you’re going to do something, and deliver it.

“Right now, in this era of multi-party politics and concessions and deals behind closed doors, I just think that the public don’t know what they’re going to get. If you want Conservative policies, then please vote Conservative.”

Badenoch also criticised the prime minister’s meeting with US president Donald Trump, saying Burnham “agreed with everything that president Trump said.” She said she is willing to say publicly when she disagrees with Trump, and that “being too scared to disagree publicly” is a problem.

She said: “The way that these international meetings work is that you actually plan what you’re going to talk about in advance. I don’t know what the government officials are doing with the US or it may be that president Trump just is a bit erratic in what he chooses to cover. 

“But what Andy Burnham said yesterday was very interesting. In the morning, he said that he wanted to bring back that terrible Chagos deal, the one where they’re giving British territory to Mauritius and paying £35 billion for it. 

“And then he had the meeting with President Trump, and then said, ‘Oh, actually, maybe it’s not really a good deal.’”