Labour would win a general election if it was held now – but lose more than 150 MPs and the party’s Commons majority.

A new study of recent opinion polls suggests Andy Burnham would return to 10 Downing Street as prime minister.

However, he would be forced to do deals with other parties to govern after falling well short of a majority in parliament.

The UK Polling Report findings come amid speculation at Westminster that Burnham could call a snap election within months to capitalise on Labour’s resurgence under his leadership.

The party is now leading Reform UK in most opinion polls – a dramatic turnaround from when Keir Starmer was still PM.

A poll of polls by Election Maps UK puts Labour on 26%, with Reform on 24% and the Conservatives on 20%.

According to UK Polling Report, an election now would see Labour return 239 MPs, 173 fewer than in 2024, but well ahead of Reform on 128.

The Tories would end up with just 127 MPs, while the Lib Dems would be on 73 seats.

The SNP would surge to 41, with the Greens on 6 and Plaid Cymru on 4.

Such a result would leave Labour 87 seats short of an overall Commons majority.

In that scenario, Burnham would most likely look to do a deal with Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, even though that would still not be enough to guarantee him a majority.

"IF A GENERAL ELECTION WERE HELD TODAY" PROJECTION @UKLABOUR WINLAB: 239 (-173)REFORM: 128 (+123)CON: 127 (+6)https://t.co/tifPgLf9hL pic.twitter.com/IMG8eVUI9M

The next general election does not need to take place until 2029, and the prime minister has insisted that he has no plans to call one before then.

Speaking to the BBC in July, he said: “There’s no early general election. I don’t think people want it.”

Nevertheless, many senior Labour figures believe Burnham should capitalise on his current popularity by going to the country at some point between now and next spring.

Source: Read the original article on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk