The former foreign secretary David Miliband has declared himself “optimistic” about the prospect of Andy Burnham becoming the next prime minister, even as the biggest choice facing the Labour leader-in-waiting – who to appoint as chancellor – remains unresolved.
Speaking at a Center for Global Development event in London on Friday, Miliband praised Burnham’s “openness and energy that I think is very attractive and positive”. He described the expected appointment of former Labour cabinet minister James Purnell as Burnham’s Downing Street chief of staff as “fantastic”. “I haven’t lost my youthful optimism,” Miliband said. “Andy Burnham, James [Purnell] and I came into the House of Commons at the same time in 2001 and I think [Burnham has] always had this remarkable ability to listen, to connect, to process data and ideas and information.”
“David Miliband says he is optimistic about Andy Burnham becoming PM, as Burnham faces a critical decision on his chancellor.”
Miliband, who quit as MP for South Shields in 2013 to lead the International Rescue Committee, has been the subject of speculation about a return to front-line politics via a peerage, as David Cameron did under Rishi Sunak. Asked directly whether he was interested in joining Burnham’s government, he promoted the IRC’s publications instead. When pressed later about whether he had been in contact with team Burnham, he did not reply. Yet a person who knows Miliband told the BBC he would be “a massive asset to Andy Burnham’s cabinet”, citing his international work.
Meanwhile, the former deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has waded into the heated debate over who should succeed Rachel Reeves as chancellor, saying Ed Miliband should get the job. But people who claim to know Burnham’s mind expect him to decide this weekend, with market uncertainty through next week potentially becoming a major story. No promises have been made to anybody.
According to a New Statesman report, the most obvious candidates are Wes Streeting from the centre right and Ed Miliband from the centre left. Streeting, described as one of the party’s best explainers and verbal street-fighters, is the favourite with Ladbrokes. He has been working with the pro-growth guru Will Hutton and former Bank of England economist Andy Haldane. But contrary to other reports, Streeting has neither lobbied nor asked Burnham for the job and, I am told, has no particular expectations. The case against him, presumably, is that he has made no secret of his appetite for the top job and that, therefore, Burnham may be nervous.
The case against Ed Miliband is better known: attacked by union leaders for his net zero policies, and savaged by commentators who see him as the knee-jerk left-wing candidate, he would be very closely scrutinised by the bond markets. One senior MP says: “It’s actually unfair, but the question is, can Ed get beyond the vicious caricature of him?” Yet the case for Miliband is powerful and hasn’t been properly aired. For Burnham, the decision is intensely personal – the relationship between a prime minister and chancellor is always either creative or toxic. Get it wrong, and he could face a market crisis before he is even in Number 10. Get it right, and the fiscal straitjacket could loosen quickly.