John Healey, the former defence secretary who had helped topple Keir Starmer, was summoned to Downing Street on Monday afternoon. Wearing a suit and one of his many red ties, he left parliament alone via a back entrance next to a pub. “I’m on my way to a meeting,” he said with a slight smile as he marched down Whitehall. Minutes later, he was named chancellor in the first major surprise of Andy Burnham’s premiership — a move that delighted the Ministry of Defence but left even some Labour colleagues stunned.
Healey’s appointment was one of a flurry of announcements from the new prime minister, who spent his first 24 hours telephoning Keir Starmer’s allies to sack them from the cabinet. Among those returning to the table alongside Healey were new defence secretary Wes Streeting and new energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh — both of whom had resigned from Starmer’s government in recent weeks, hastening Burnham’s path to office. “It’s brilliant for us,” said an MOD insider of Healey’s elevation. Yet the same source admitted: “We were dreading him coming back — he’s a difficult person.” Even some senior Conservatives called the move clever. “He’s not Ed Miliband, he’s hard to attack, and he’s Treasury-literate,” explained one former Tory cabinet minister, noting Healey’s five-year stint as a minister in the Treasury under Tony Blair.
“Burnham makes Healey chancellor and cuts VAT on energy, but faces funding row.”
Burnham’s first policy — a cut in VAT on energy bills — won Conservative support but immediately drew questions over its funding. At his first cabinet meeting, Burnham told ministers they must get the cost of living down and “always show how the policies to do that will be paid for.” But by the time he spoke, a funding row had already broken out. Burnham ally Anneliese Midgeley now faces the difficult task of keeping Labour MPs — including those sacked — loyal to the government. Former chief secretary to the prime minister, Darren Jones, publicly criticised the energy bills policy, a sign not all will toe the line. One Labour MP said the sacked ministers fall into three groups: “Some went because of their politics, others just weren’t good, and then there are those disliked in the parliamentary Labour party.”
The new prime minister is moving at breakneck speed for now, but still faces calls for a snap election. With a cabinet shaped by rebels and a cost-of-living pledge already mired in a funding dispute, the question is how long Burnham’s breakneck pace can last.
