Andy Burnham calls for Labour to back PR electoral system to shut out Tories – as Lib Dem deputy leader refuses to rule out Lib-Lab pact after by-election victories

Andy Burnham today called for Labour to back a PR electoral system to shut the Tories out of government.

The Manchester mayor – often tipped as a successor to Keir Starmer – said moving away from the current ‘first past the post’ arrangements could allow ‘wider reforms’.

The comments came as deputy Lib Dem leader Daisy Cooper refused to rule out a Lib-Lab pact after the by-election victories in Tiverton and Wakefield last week.

The Conservatives suffered a drubbing in both seats partly due to huge-scale tactical voting. The contests saw the Lib Dems lose their deposit in the Red Wall seat, while the same happened to Labour in Tiverton. 

However, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy tried to pour cold water on the idea saying there is ‘no possibility’ of of a formal deal.   

Andy Burnham (left at Glastonbury yesterday) – often tipped as a successor to Keir Starmer (right) – said moving away from the current ‘first past the post’ arrangements could allow ‘wider reforms’

Lib Dem leader Daisy Cooper refused to rule out a Lib-Lab pact after the by-election victories in Tiverton and Wakefield last week

Tories are nervous that failing to stay as the largest party at the next election could be fatal, as Labour and the Lib Dems might make changing the electoral system to a form of PR part of a deal to govern together.

Writing in the Observer, Mr Burnham insisted he was not challenging Keir Starmer’s authority or calling for a formal electoral pact. 

‘What I am proposing is cooperating now on a programme for political reform. At a grassroots level, Labour is moving towards support for PR,’ he said.

‘If the party as a whole were to embrace it, it paves the way for agreement with other parties on wider reforms: an elected senate of the nations and regions to replace the Lords and maximum devolution of power out of Westminster.’

Pressed on the question of a pact with Labour – which Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has dismissed – Ms Cooper told Sky News: ‘I think there’s a really big distinction between a hypothetical situation that might or might not happen in a couple of years’ time and the situation we are facing right now.’ 

She added: ‘You simply cannot work out what will happen in the future.’  

Tories are nervous that if Boris Johnson (pictured in Germany today) cannot keep them as the largest party at the next election it could be fatal, as Labour and the Lib Dems might make changing the electoral system to a form of PR part of a deal to govern together

But Mr Lammy said: ‘I don’t think the voters of Britain want politicians to stitch up deals in the corridors of power.

‘People expect to make their own judgment and decide who they want to vote for.

‘In the end, in the 22 years that I’ve been in public life, it’s clear to me that we have two major political parties – those political parties actually a coalition in of themselves – and for the Labour Party to form the next government we have to pick up votes from people who are considering voting Conservative.

‘That’s the basis on which will form the next government.

‘I see no possibility of us forming the next government by picking up a few Lib Dem votes. I’ve got to be honest about – or indeed Green votes – and that is why I’m really pleased about what happened in Wakefield on Thursday.’

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