The presenter interrupted proceedings to share a huge update.

Close up of Fiona Bruce hosting Question Time

Fiona Bruce hosted Question Time from Dumfries. (Image: BBC)

Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce halted the show on Thursday, May 21, to make two special announcements. Following a heated discussion about food price caps, she said: “Before we go on, I want to tell you about our programme next week, because… we are going to be in Dulwich in South London for a special programme about artificial intelligence. So many questions we get, probably not every week, so we’ll probably get two or three. But I have to say they just build up over time, and we decided we’re going to tackle this subject.

“Do we understand it? Can we control it? Are we all going to lose our jobs? What it will mean for us, so that’s a special programme on artificial intelligence next week. If you would like to come and be part of that audience, Dulwich in South London, we would love to see you,” she told viewers.

 

She then teased the upcoming edition of the show on Thursday, June 4, telling viewers: “The week after that, you might have noticed there’s a by-election happening in Makerfield. We’re going to be there,” she revealed.

Although Burnham’s allies are holding by-elections across the country, Makerfield has come under national scrutiny after Andy Burnham announced he would run for the seat, hoping to become an MP and challenge the Labour leadership.

They are concerned that MPs will not be mandated to campaign for him in the Makerfield by-election despite the Labour leadership’s “soft-playing” support, it has been reported.

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Andy burnham is hoping to win the Makerfiled by-election and return to Parliment (Image: Getty)

Some Labour backbenchers believe that the party does not stand a chance in the race, where Reform recently won almost all the council seats.

A source close to Sir Keir told The Independent that if Mr Burnham wins in Makerfield, “then he will almost certainly become prime minister,” which suggests Sir Keir’s only chance of clinging on to power is for Mr Burnham to lose.

Sir Keir could also make Mr Burnham’s bid for the top job more difficult by pledging to rejoin the EU. The PM’s team is said to have privately sounded out senior Labour figures, including local Government leaders in Red Wall areas, about the prospect of rejoining the bloc.