Now Burnham plots Lib-Lab deal to keep Tories out of off ice

ANDY Burnham yesterday called on Labour to do a deal with the Liberal Democrats to lock the Conservatives out of Downing Street.

The Greater Manchester mayor, who is tipped as a future Labour leader, said it was time for the party to ‘talk openly and seriously’ with the Lib Dems and other ‘progressive’ parties who want to remove Boris Johnson from power.

Mr Burnham said that if the opposition parties continue a ‘business as usual’ approach, they may fail to dislodge the Conservatives at the next general election. But he said last week’s by-elections in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton showed that with greater co- operation it was ‘ highly likely’ Labour and the Lib Dems could force the Conservatives from office.

His intervention follows Health Secretary Sajid Javid’s call on Saturday for Labour and the Lib Dems ‘to come clean’ over whether they have made an electoral pact.

Mr Burnham, who claimed he was not advocating a formal pact, said Labour should do a deal with the Lib Dems that could lock the Conservatives out of power for a generation by scrapping the firstpast-the-post voting system. ‘The time has come for a complete rewiring of Britain – and for my own party to talk openly and seriously with others who feel the same,’ he wrote in The Observer.

‘Given the seriousness of the country’s situation, the next general election needs to bring a change of direction.

‘The risk is, if our political parties carry on with business as usual, it may not happen.

‘The Tories are masters at making first- past- the- post work for them.

‘However, if the other parties are open to a new approach, Thursday’s results suggest a change of government becomes not just achievable but highly likely.’

In last week’s by- elections, the Lib Dems lost their deposit in Wakefield after soft-pedalling to allow Labour a clear run. Labour returned the favour in Tiverton. Both parties have denied there is a formal alliance.

But Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper did not rule out one being in place at the next general election.

She told Sky News yesterday: ‘I think there is a really

‘Hypothetical situation’

big distinction between a hypothetical situation that may or may not happen in a couple of years’ time and the reality of what we’re facing right now.’

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said there was little sign of Tory voters switching to either opposition party in last week’s by- elections. But he acknowledged the Conservatives had to do more to energise their own supporters against a newly united opposition.

‘The Lib Dem vote went up a couple of per cent in Tiverton and the same with the Labour vote in Wakefield,’ he said.

‘But what actually happened was that Conservative voters didn’t come out to vote.’

Some Labour groups even supported ‘vote- swapping’ websites in last week’s byelections, which allowed Labour voters in Devon to formally ‘swap’ their votes with Lib Dem supporters in Wakefield, with each voting for the other’s party.

Analysis by YouGov has found there were 44 seats won by the Tories at the last election where the combined Labour and Lib Dem vote was bigger than the Tory total.