Backbenchers warn Andy Burnham against calling 'carnage' snap general election

By BRENDAN CARLIN and DAN HODGES, DAILY MAIL COLUMNIST Published: 00:19, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 00:22, 23 August 2026 Andy Burnham has been warned by his backbenchers that calling a snap general election will mean 'carnage' for scores of new MPs. The Prime Minister was urged by one to 'get on with the job of governing – not plunge us into uncertainty'. Last week, The Mail on Sunday revealed that the new PM's inner circle was considering an election next spring in a bid to get him a mandate from the people. Mr Burnham was advised to think about going to the country two years earlier than he needed to in order to take advantage of the Right-wing vote being split between a struggling Reform UK and the Tories who are yet to fully recover from defections. Since he took over in July, the PM has also experienced a so-called 'Burnham bounce' which allowed Labour to creep narrowly ahead of Reform in the polls. He also served in the Cabinet of Gordon Brown, who opted not to call an early election in 2007 when he was ahead in the polls after succeeding Tony Blair – but then lost to David Cameron's Tories in 2010. Mr Burnham inherited a huge majority of more than 165 Labour MPs from Sir Keir Starmer but he is also bound by the latter's 2024 manifesto. Now research, carried out by Electoral Calculus for this newspaper, shows that he could get his own comfortable majority of 50 (350 MPs overall) if he could get a lead of almost eight per cent over rivals in the polls and reach a 31.6 per cent share of the vote in a general election.  Andy Burnham has been urged by one of his backbenchers that calling a snap general election will mean 'carnage' for new MPs Mr Burnham inherited a majority of more than 165 Labour MPs from Sir Keir Starmer -  but he is also bound by the latter's 2024 manifesto But that result would almost certainly be at the expense of about 90 Labour MPs – more than 85 of whom were only elected two years ago in Sir Keir's landslide victory. Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash, who was one of the first Labour backbenchers to call for Sir Keir to step down as PM, would likely lose his seat to Reform in an early election. Other 'new boys' to be sacrificed would include high-flying justice minister Jake Richards who would also be likely to lose his Rother Valley seat to Nigel Farage's party. And if Labour's overall election vote slipped by just 1.5 per cent, it would mean Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would lose her Birmingham Ladywood seat to the Greens. In this scenario, Mr Burnham would also be reduced to a Commons majority of just two. One Labour MP, who is at risk of losing in a snap poll, drew attention to the decision by Tory PM Theresa May to go for an election in 2017, only to lose her Commons majority. The MP said: 'May tried this and look where it got her. Don't get carried away by the opinion polls and the Burnham bounce. Presuming that you're going to win a general election in May is a fool's game. 'Get on with the job of governing now – don't plunge us into election uncertainty.' Another MP warned it would leave 'a bitter taste if the price of Burnham's own mandate was carnage for so many 'newbie' Labour MPs who only got in thanks to Starmer and his 2024 landslide'. Martin Baxter, from Electoral Calculus, said Mr Burnham would need to increase Labour's current poll share by 'six or seven per cent' to get a comfortable majority.  He added: 'Even a win would be painful for dozens of Labour backbenchers who would lose their marginal seats.' But an ally of the PM said he had already ruled out an early election, adding: 'I don't think people want it.'