Burnham as prime minister would be beaten by Farage at general election, poll shows
Andy Burnham will lose to Reform UK if he replaces Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister at the next general election, a new poll suggests.
A Labor Party led by the mayor of Greater Manchester would have the support of 20 per cent of voters, two points more than a party led by Sir Keir.
But the poll, conducted by BMG Research, showed Reform would still be three points ahead of Burnham’s Labor Party, with 23 per cent of the vote.
Mr Burnham leading the party could provide some support but could lead to a two-point drop in support for both Reform and the Greens, who are at 9 points.
But slightly more voters said they were unsure or would not vote than those who said the same in a scenario where Sir Keir was leader.
The head-to-head poll does not reflect how voters would vote in a possible general election, where they would be judged on their party’s record and manifesto and vote for an individual local MP rather than a party leader.
But the latest vote will still be a blow to Mr Burnham’s campaign as he hopes to convince voters he has a better chance of weathering the Reformation threat.
It comes as Mr Burnham tries to fend off the threat from the right in the upcoming Makerfield by-election, in which he is running for Labor in a bid to return to Westminster.
Sources close to the politician said: Times If he became Prime Minister he would tear up billions of pounds worth of asylum accommodation contracts; This policy will likely win votes from people concerned about rising costs of housing refugees.
Instead, the mayor of Greater Manchester is expected to hand over responsibility for providing accommodation to local authorities.
Latest survey published first I PaperHe disputes the results of a recent poll by More in Common which suggested Mr Burnham had a good chance of beating Mr Farage in the general election.
More in Common (MIC) found Mr Burnham would beat the Reform UK leader by 14 percentage points in head-to-head polls.
But the MIC also warned that a potentially “dangerous” Brexit debate within Labor could cost Mr Burnham his chance of winning at Makerfield.
To have a chance at the Labor leadership, Mr Burnham must first win the parliamentary seat occupied by Britain, which voted to leave the European Union in 2016 and is another prominent Brexit Reform supporter.
In a briefing on last month’s local election results, More in Common’s Luke Tryl said Mr Burnham would beat Mr Farage by 14 percentage points in a head-to-head contest, but “not a lot of people know”.
He said Mr Burnham also performed nearly 10 points better against Mr Farage than Sir Keir.
Separately, a different Joint Joint poll found Mr Burnham would increase Labour’s support by eight percentage points above Reform UK if he became leader of the party.
The survey of 2,599 people found that this would increase Labour’s overall vote share to 30 per cent, while Reform has been 27th in opinion polls since last autumn, ahead of the Conservative Party’s 20th place.
BMG surveyed a representative sample of 1,511 GB adults between 26 and 28 May.
