Flutter those eyelashes all you like, Andy… we want an election now! On eve of becoming PM, ‘Messiah without a mandate’ Burnham gets blunt message from voters

Andy Burnham has no mandate for ‘back to the 1970s’ left-wing policies, Mail on Sunday poll finds; voters are demanding he go to the general election.

Mr Burnham will march to Downing Street on Monday and vow to drag Britain back to the pre-Thatcher era with ‘distinctly Labour’ policies such as wealth taxes to crush middle-class families.

But 47 per cent of people think Mr Burnham, who was elected without contest as Labor leader, should call an election to legitimize his own agenda, according to the MoS poll. A total of 31 percent disagree with this opinion.

The survey by Find Out Now also shows that only 18 per cent of voters think Mr Burnham should repair the public finances by raising taxes, while 55 per cent think he should cut public spending instead.

The results come at a time when Mr Burnham’s embryonic administration is already spiraling into chaos and fighting over his first Cabinet appointments.

In other developments:

• Mr Burnham was preparing to order new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea in response to energy pressures caused by the Iran War, despite Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s previous objections to Net Zero.
• Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch branded Mr Burnham a “people pleaser”, telling the BBC: “This job is not a popularity contest, it makes the lives of all people outside this building better.”
• A new analysis of Mr Burnham’s proposed mansion tax on homes worth more than £1.5 million would leave families in southern England facing a bill of £800 million, 60 per cent of the total. Tax burden on properties in London and not just 1 per cent to Mr Burnham’s beloved Manchester.
• Mr Burnham’s allies accused Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood of trying to ‘make herself understood’ for the job of Chancellor before the previous favourite, Mr Miliband.
• The MoS was told security experts had warned Mr Burnham would not be able to live at his parents’ home while working at the proposed No 10 North without extensive security improvements.
• Mr Burnham has vowed to scrap the Starmer government’s Digital ID programme.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branded Mr Burnham a ‘people pleaser’ who does not want to be properly scrutinized

A Mail poll on Sunday found 47 per cent of people thought Mr Burnham, who was elected without contest as Labor leader, should call an election to legitimize his agenda.

The expected announcement on North Sea drilling will be part of a raft of new policy measures, including public control of water and energy companies, a new council housebuilding programme, cuts to energy bills and bus fares and social care reform, which will also have to be paid for through wealth or death taxes.

In his coronation speech on Friday, Mr Burnham vowed to build a ‘new policy’ and ‘take back power from Westminster’, citing a series of wrong turns in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher.

But Labor MPs are concerned that he will struggle to implement reforms without the clear support of voters.

One said: ‘He has no authority. There will be pressure on him to call early elections, not immediately, but next year.

‘He’s going to have to make some pretty tough decisions and he doesn’t have the authority yet. ‘You can’t promise the biggest change in history and have a mandate.’

The Conservatives branded Mr Burnham a ‘coronation hen’ for dodging Parliamentary scrutiny until the House of Commons returned in September. Ms Badenoch said: ‘He didn’t say what he was going to do; ‘This is all crazy stuff.’

Mr Burnham’s apparent refusal to inform even key allies who would be given cabinet posts was blamed for increasing confusion in the party.

Mr Miliband was initially said to be ‘qualified’ to become Chancellor, but later reports indicated Ms Mahmood would take the job instead. In this scenario, some predict Mr Miliband would compensate by taking on Yvette Cooper’s current Foreign Secretary post.

Sources close to former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner say she will need ‘some convincing’ to become Health Minister

Wes Streeting, Mr Burnham’s one-time rival for the party leadership, has been variously linked with returning to his old job as Health Secretary, a new role as Defense Secretary and even as Chancellor.

However, the Foreign Secretary position was also linked to Mr Miliband’s brother David, which would mark an unexpected return to British politics and would also involve him becoming a member of the Labor Party.

Wes Streeting, Mr Burnham’s one-time rival for the party leadership, has been variously linked with returning to his old job as Health Secretary, a new role as Defense Secretary and even as Chancellor.

Adding to the confusion, former Deputy Chancellor Angela Rayner was also rumored to stand as Health Secretary on Saturday – partly because her previous experience as a care worker could help Mr Burnham’s radical plans for a national care service.

The move would represent a dramatic comeback for Ms Rayner, who resigned from the Cabinet last year over tax issues.

But sources close to Ms Rayner, who has stronger connections to the return to her former home and local government brief, stressed she would need ‘some convincing’ to become Health Minister. They also insisted that he was not offered such a job.

On Friday, Mr. Burnham said he was still finalizing his Cabinet picks. It appears no senior politician has been given a firm job offer yet.

A senior Labor MP said: ‘Everyone is so in the dark they’re always fighting each other!’

Senior Labor MP and former minister Graham Stringer told The Mail on Sunday: ‘If Andy Burnham is serious about making the sweeping changes he promised on Friday, he will need to consider going to the country and taking up his own post.’

He added: ‘Unifying the party is a noble cause but you cannot unite the party with a blank cheque.

‘You can’t take people with you if you don’t tell them where they’re going.’