'For all the Reform and Tory goons at the back who thrive on fake news… There’s no change to the general election'
Nigel Farage and right-wing media outlets including the Express and GB News have made misleading claims that Labour has refused to rule out delaying the next general election beyond 2029.
In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips yesterday, Labour Party chair Anna Turley was quizzed on the government’s plans to allow 63 local authorities to postpone their elections next year to allow local government reorganisation to take place.
Phillips then asked Turley whether Labour plans to postpone the 2029 general election, to which she responded, “No, not at all. We are undertaking the biggest change to local government in 50 years and that takes time.”
Despite Turley confirming the general election will take place in 2029, GB News has reported a “potential general election delay” and quoted Nigel Farage saying Turley shows “total contempt for democracy”.
The Express ran a headline claiming that the “Labour party chair now refusing to rule out delaying the next general election”.
Phillips also said: “If I were interviewing someone in Latin America or Africa, and they said to me what you’ve just said to me, you’d already be saying, ‘banana republic,’ speechifying about the dangers of authoritarianism.”
The Sky News presenter then asked Turley if Labour’s reforms to the House of Lords could be used as a reason to “put off a general election in 2029”.
Turley said: “We’ve still got a huge amount of elections coming up this year in Scotland, in Wales, all of London, we’ve got a huge amount of elections coming up in May…”
Pressed again on whether getting rid of the House of Lords could result in the general election being delayed, the Labour MP for Redcar replied: “Of course a general election will come.
“The House of Lords isn’t elected. So I’m a bit confused as to why House of Lords reform would impact on a general election. There are no plans for a change to the general election.”
Turley also confirmed in a Times Radio interview that “The law is very clear. We will have a general election by 2029. That won’t change.”
She said that there had been a “misunderstanding” in her interview with Phillips, and added: “I’m not quite sure where he was going with that, I’m afraid.”
In a post on X this morning, Turley wrote: “For all the Reform and Tory goons at the back who thrive on fake news… There’s no change to the general election. When asked I literally said the words ‘no, not at all’. There will be a General Election by 2029 as is the law. Sorry to disappoint you!”.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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