Andy Burnham is being urged by female Labour MPs to commit to a 50:50 gender split within his government should he become prime minister in July – a demand that comes as the prime minister-in-waiting, an English graduate, prepares to reshape his top team. A draft letter from the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party (WPLP), seen by the BBC, says Labour must lead by example with its own personnel if it wants to be seen as the party of equality. "We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government," the WPLP writes.
Burnham is expected to remove Chancellor Rachel Reeves – the first ever woman in No 11 – and the top contenders to replace her are men. He will also bring back New Labour ally James Purnell as his chief of staff, a position shared by two women under Sir Keir Starmer. One WPLP member suggested it would not be acceptable "to have more Milibands in the great offices of state than women". Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is a possible contender for chancellor, with speculation that his brother David could return as foreign secretary, perhaps via a House of Lords appointment.
“Labour women demand 50:50 gender split in Burnham's government amid leadership changes and literary background.”
At a meeting this week, Burnham moved to reassure the WPLP he was an ally, promising to sack any staff who undermined women in his team. Labour MPs have complained of feeling undermined by what they call a boy's club culture in Westminster, which they say has contributed to scandals, structural misogyny, bullying, and a blind eye being turned to reports of sexual harassment. The draft letter, yet to be sent, states: "We have fought very hard to achieve our electoral success only to find that we are battling within our own party to be heard as women. Rooms where decisions are being made are often closed to us leading to blind spots in appointment decisions and policy development. The tendency of previous leaderships to sideline the voices of women makes us a weaker government."
The WPLP is also calling for a female deputy prime minister and a separate first minister of state for women, along with zero tolerance of bullying or misogyny from No 10 staff and parliamentarians. The letter highlights threats to women, particularly female MPs from ethnic minorities, demanding better security and legislation to limit online abuse and deepfakes.
Burnham, meanwhile, enters No 10 as the first prime minister with an English degree – a fact that resonates with Labour's working-class literary tradition. At 17, after reading The Merchant of Venice, he won an essay prize at Cambridge University and lobbied his dubious parents to let him read English there, quoting the epigraph from Tony Harrison's poem "V.": "My father still reads the dictionary every day. He says your life depends on your power to master words." The words, originally Arthur Scargill's, recall a culture of subscription libraries and Workers' Educational Association talks. Middlemarch, Burnham's favourite novel, also gestures to that inheritance. English graduates have rarely gained more than a toehold on power – the closest being Michael Gove – but Burnham's literary hinterland shapes a distinct style of politics, one where language is paramount. The same group that pressured Sir Keir Starmer to appoint a woman as first secretary of state now awaits Burnham's response.