By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-08-26 06:51:37 | Updated at 2026-09-04 02:00:01
1 week ago
Andy Burnham is expected to face an immediate test of his backing for electoral reform when Parliament resumes, with close to 100 Labour MPs pushing for a new voting system.
The Prime Minister is facing pressure to support ditching the longstanding first past the post system, as MPs hope to push reforms before the next election and include the changes within Labour’s next manifesto.
No10 has said Mr Burnham remained committed to electoral reform, but stopped short of backing the new commission.
New polling of MPs by YouGov suggests the change is now supported by a majority in the Commons, with 53 per cent of those surveyed saying they supported a review into first past the post.
An amendment to launch the commission has been backed by 185 MPs, including a number of former ministers and supporters of the previous prime minister, Keir Starmer - and will be addressed from next month.
A Labour source said: “The representation of the people bill has been designed to deliver our manifesto commitments on votes at 16 and strengthen political donation rules to guard against foreign interference, and that’s what the Government is prioritising.
“Andy remains strongly committed to electoral reform, and has indicated this is a matter for a future party manifesto, given a mandate would need to be secured for it.”
Mr Burnham had earlier endorsed the call for a national commission on electoral reform at last year’s Labour conference, saying he backed “a manifesto commitment to a system of proportional representation to be introduced into Westminster elections in the next parliament".
Ninety-eight Labour MPs have signed the amendment, tabled by Labour’s Alex Sobel, with support from across eight parties, as well as independents.
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Energy bills to see 4% rise from October as Energy Secretary says slash to VAT will 'give breathing space'
Average annual energy bills will rise by almost £100 for a typical household in October, GB News understands.
Energy regulator Ofgem announced a 4 per cent rise on July's price cap this morning, which will see billpayers in a typical dual fuel home pay £1,723 - up from the previous cap of £1,633.
October's price cap will cover the period from October 1 to the end of this year (Q4).
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said families will be "understandably concerned about the cost of energy bills this winter", and suggested that the rise is being "driven up by the Iran war".
She added: "Energy is an everyday essential and it needs to be affordable for everyone, which is why we have cut VAT on electricity bills from October, to give families some breathing space.
"This has limited the rise in the price cap and follows the £150 in costs we removed from bills earlier this year, and we will keep looking at what more we can do to protect families from unaffordable bills."
