A Labour minister faced a brutal grilling over Andy Burnham‘s coronation on GB News. Host Camilla Tominey put it to James Murray that there should be a general election as the new Makerfield MP is set to enter 10 Downing Street within weeks.

She highlighted a series of tax hikes Mr Burnham is reportedly looking at, including a rise in capital gains tax and the mansion tax. Tominey said: “We’ve now got a coronation of a man that, okay, has won in Makerfield. He has no mandate really to govern, he’s talking about making some changes to tax, we’ve got this idea that southern homes might be subject to a mansion tax if they’re worth more than £1.5million – that would be an increase.

“So he seems to be intent perhaps on creating a North-South divide, we’ve got talk about capital gains tax and income tax being aligned. No one voted for this in 2024, did they, so we should have a general election if he’s going to make these tax changes?”

The Cabinet minister replied: “You mentioned Andy’s victory in Makerfield, which I think was a resounding victory.

“Remember, Reform won all of the wards in that constituency at the recent local elections, and Andy beat Reform and Restore combined.”

But Tominey said: “That’s not a general election, is it?”

Mr Murray responded: “It’s one constituency, but as an indicator of Andy’s appeal and the kind of support that can get behind him, it’s a strong indication.”

The host then said: “No, it’s a by-election, it’s not a general election.”

The Health Secretary went on: “Andy has said he stands behind the 2024 manifesto, we were all elected on that 2024 manifesto. We have a parliamentary democracy. The Labour Party in Parliament is rallying behind Andy to be our next leader and prime minister.”

It comes as Mr Burnham, who is the only candidate who has thrown his hat in the ring in the Labour leadership race to replace Sir Keir Starmer, has largely dodged media questions since his Makerfield by-election win ahead of his expected entry into Downing Street as early as July 20.