Andy Burnham will move into Number 10 on Monday after a crushing victory in the Labour leadership contest – but the battle for the keys to Number 11 is far from over.
An overwhelming majority of Labour MPs nominated the former health secretary, and he secured the necessary trade‑union backing today, paving the way for a swift handover of power. Yet the beneath‑the‑radar fight for the chancellorship is escalating, with Burnham’s pick set to send a signal of his intent to both politicians and the bond markets.
“Andy Burnham becomes Labour leader but faces pressure over choosing Ed Miliband or another chancellor.”
The official line from Team Burnham is that no decision has been taken, and cabinet appointments will not be announced until Monday. Discussions have been taking place among a tight circle: next chief of staff James Purnell, Louise Haigh, and former MP Josh Simons, who stood aside for Burnham in the Makerfield by‑election.
The widespread assumption has been that Energy Secretary Ed Miliband would move to the Treasury. But there has been both noisy and more subtle pressure from unions representing oil‑and‑gas workers, who distrust Miliband’s instincts, as well as from Sir Keir Starmer’s unpaid cost‑of‑living tsar Lord Walker, the boss of Iceland. Walker argues that the bond markets would “freak out” if an “ideological” chancellor were installed.
In recent days, a number of MPs close to Burnham – who have no animus towards the energy secretary – believe the likelihood of appointing Miliband has “lessened significantly”. The caveat, they stress, is that they are not making the decisions, but are discerning the mood.
Those close to Miliband insist it is not only highly possible but highly desirable that he gets the job. They point to his credentials: an economics background, a stint as an adviser in the Treasury under Gordon Brown, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and ministerial experience in both the last Labour government and this one. “He can make the Treasury do what it doesn’t want to do,” one colleague put it.
Miliband has offered advice to Burnham regularly and recently and would be in lock‑step with his leader on the task of spreading growth, in Burnham’s words, “to every postcode”. As for the bond markets, one supporter stressed Miliband’s adherence to fiscal rules; another was more colourful: “He isn’t Che Guevara.”
Many in the parliamentary party still expect him to move to Number 11. If he does not, some on the party’s soft left will conclude that Burnham has refused the first fence in the race to change Britain.