Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said that Andy Burnham would have “no mandate whatsoever” if he entered Downing Street without a general election.
Speaking to GB News this morning, Farage warned that the country was sick of prime ministers being swapped in and out by party insiders. “At the moment, we haven’t got a clue” what Burnham stands for, Farage said. “And by the way, if he does become Prime Minister on 17th July, he’ll do so with no mandate whatsoever.”
Farage said Burnham’s record as Mayor of Greater Manchester had allowed him to avoid taking difficult political positions. “Mayors fulfil a civic role,” he said. “They cut ribbons. They host visiting film stars. Politicians have to take positions.” Burnham, Farage added, had “flipped and flopped in the last month more than Keir Starmer has in the last two years”.
Farage said voters deserved the chance to decide who governs the country, rather than being forced to accept another leader imposed by Labour MPs. “I think the public are sick to death of the game of musical chairs that’s going on in Downing Street and deserve a vote”, he said.
On Good Morning Britain, Farage said the Labour politician had won an emphatic victory in Makerfield by effectively turning the by-election into a referendum on Keir Starmer. “Andy Burnham campaigned on ‘Vote Burnham, get Starmer out’” - the same hugely successful message that Reform UK sent out to voters during the May elections, when we told people to vote Reform to get Starmer out.
Farage said there were still huge unanswered questions about what Burnham would do in power. “Whether it’s to do with defence, whether it’s to do with our relationship with Europe, whether it’s to do with our relationship with NATO, America, the economy, the self-employed, family farms - all these things - I haven’t got a clue what Andy Burnham stands for”, he said on Talk.
“To keep chopping and changing like this is unacceptable in normal circumstances”, Farage told Talk. “But with somebody about whom we know nothing, as to where his policies will lie, there must be a General Election.”
Speaking to GB News this morning, Farage warned that the country was sick of prime ministers being swapped in and out by party insiders. “At the moment, we haven’t got a clue” what Burnham stands for, Farage said. “And by the way, if he does become Prime Minister on 17th July, he’ll do so with no mandate whatsoever.”
Farage said Burnham’s record as Mayor of Greater Manchester had allowed him to avoid taking difficult political positions. “Mayors fulfil a civic role,” he said. “They cut ribbons. They host visiting film stars. Politicians have to take positions.” Burnham, Farage added, had “flipped and flopped in the last month more than Keir Starmer has in the last two years”.
Farage said voters deserved the chance to decide who governs the country, rather than being forced to accept another leader imposed by Labour MPs. “I think the public are sick to death of the game of musical chairs that’s going on in Downing Street and deserve a vote”, he said.
On Good Morning Britain, Farage said the Labour politician had won an emphatic victory in Makerfield by effectively turning the by-election into a referendum on Keir Starmer. “Andy Burnham campaigned on ‘Vote Burnham, get Starmer out’” - the same hugely successful message that Reform UK sent out to voters during the May elections, when we told people to vote Reform to get Starmer out.
Farage said there were still huge unanswered questions about what Burnham would do in power. “Whether it’s to do with defence, whether it’s to do with our relationship with Europe, whether it’s to do with our relationship with NATO, America, the economy, the self-employed, family farms - all these things - I haven’t got a clue what Andy Burnham stands for”, he said on Talk.
“To keep chopping and changing like this is unacceptable in normal circumstances”, Farage told Talk. “But with somebody about whom we know nothing, as to where his policies will lie, there must be a General Election.”
