Andy Burnham’s choice of chief of staff is facing a backlash within Labour after transparency records revealed that the advisory firm led by his appointee counted BP, Amazon, Jaguar Land Rover and Uber among its clients. James Purnell, a former cabinet minister and longtime friend of Burnham, was until recently chief executive of Flint Global, a registered lobbying firm. The company does not publish a full list of UK clients, but the EU transparency register shows Apple paid Flint more than €1m in the last year for which data is available. Other clients included Google, Microsoft and Glencore.
One Burnham-supporting Labour MP described the appointment as a “very bad sign that he is not thinking things through enough”. Another said: “I am deeply worried about this.” Blocked Purnell has given up his shares in Flint, which is majority owned by private equity firm Cinven and based in Jersey, and will have no further connection to the firm. A Burnham team spokesperson said: “James has left Flint. He will have no ongoing financial interest in the company of any kind.” They added that any future conflicts of interest would be “appropriately managed”. Purnell has no access to Flint emails or systems with immediate effect.
“Andy Burnham's chief of staff pick James Purnell faces backlash over his firm's lobbying for BP, Amazon and Apple.”
The row echoes earlier controversy over Keir Starmer’s decisions to appoint key Blairites such as Peter Mandelson as US ambassador and Tim Allan as director of communications, both of whom retained stakes in lobbying firms while in post. Burnham, who is expected to become prime minister by mid-July, will face immediate questions about his approach to regulating big tech and artificial intelligence, an issue that falls under his domestic in-tray. The chief of staff role, which Barwell under Theresa May described as keeping the prime minister in office and enforcing priorities across government, will be crucial to Burnham’s success. With Starmer’s two-year tenure marred by two failed appointments – Sue Gray and Morgan McSweeney – the choice of Purnell sends an early signal about Burnham’s instincts on lobbying and corporate influence.