The battle to become Andy Burnham’s chancellor has already descended into bitter infighting among allies of the rival candidates as they seek to wrestle control over the direction of the party’s economic programme
Rachel Reeves is tipped to face the sack once Burnham enters No10, if, as widely predicted, he becomes Prime Minister in little under four weeks’ time.
Although she was one of the first to back Burnham during his last tilt at the leadership in 2015 and had been expected to become his shadow chancellor had he been victorious, Reeves is closely associated with the perceived failures of Keir Starmer’s government.
The Chancellor was notable by her absence from the steps of Downing Street as Starmer gave his resignation speech at around 9.30am on Monday.
Streeting: “I have not done a deal”
It comes amid claims the relationship between her and the Prime Minister has soured over recent months over some of the more controversial tax and spending decisions.
One Government insider even claimed the pair had stopped speaking for a period earlier this year – although a source close to Reeves denied this.
But she did, however, manage to show up briefly to Burnham’s welcome photo in Westminster Hall.Reeves will be hoping she could be a continuity candidate as Chancellor and will pitch herself as the one who poses the least threat to the volatile bond markets.
However, Burnham’s allies claim she is no longer in contention for the role as he needs to signal a break from the Labour administration’s past mistakes.
Instead, multiple MPs believe Wes Streeting is eyeing up the role – especially after he threw his wight behind Burnham and withdrew his threat to stand in any forthcoming leadership contest.
Streeting has insisted he has not come to an agreement with Burnham, telling The i Paper “cross my heart of hope to die, I have not done a deal”.
The idea that he could become Chancellor has been met with horror by some Labour MPs.
One said: “Wes often needed to ask the Treasury for extra funding, as he’d made random spending commitments without agreement. It was the tantrums that came with it, alongside the ineptitude, which were a particular surprise to officials and ministers alike.
“He is not suited to this role at all. The Department of Health was a place where he was given billions of pounds and few hard decisions. He should be next tested somewhere like the Department for Work and Pensions, not the Treasury.”
A source close to Streeting responded: “Wes was cutting waiting times twice as fast as new labour with half the funding increases. He did it by smashing the NHS productivity target, which was growing at 2.7 per cent and outstripping the private sector, and by properly reforming the state, including abolishing NHS England.”
Healey, Miliband and Cooper also tipped for Chancellor
The MP was similarly scathing about Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who has made it clear to friends she wants to remain in her current position, but has been talked up as a potential candidate for Chancellor.
“Yvette has long been renowned for creating bottlenecks and not being able to make a decision. I’m not sure how that would improve anything at HMT.”
The MP was equally dismissive of the idea of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband taking over as Chancellor. “The less said about that idea – notably an idea of his own – the better. It would be over with the bond markets, and therefore the public, when interest rates inevitably spiked,” the MP said.
John Healey, the former defence secretary, and Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary have also been tipped for Chancellor – although neither were present for Burnham’s welcome photo.
A Labour MP said: “Earlier on this week you would have said Ed Miliband, but I think that is waning. I suppose Yvette is a candidate because you’d free up the Foreign Office and she has Treasury experience.
“I think Rachel Reeves is gone now. Ex-chancellors can only be given Foreign Secretary without humiliating them. I think he will leave Shabana where she is. I think John [Healey] or Pat [McFadden] are more likely.”
Battle for deputy Prime Minister
There is also understood to be a battle under way to become Burnham’s Deputy Prime Minister, with both Angela Rayner, who has previously held the role, and Lucy Powell, Labour’s Deputy Leader, both vying for the job.
Other people expected to be given prominent positions include Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, and Analise Midgeley, who co-chaired Burnham’s by-election campaign.
Haigh has reportedly been linked to the role currently occupied by Darren Jones, who is Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, while Midgley is thought to be in the running to become Burnham’s chief whip.
Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is also likely to be rewarded with a job in Burnham’s Cabinet. The pair have a long history and her calls for Starmer to stand down on Friday are understood to have tipped the PM over the edge.
The other person likely to be in contention for a bigger job is former defence minister Al Carns, who quit in the wake of Healey’s resignation over the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) earlier this month.
Those in the cabinet expected to join Reeves for the chop include David Lammy, the Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister; Steve Reed, the Housing Secretary; Richard Hermer, the Attorney General; and Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary.
Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, is expected to stay in post. There is widespread speculation that Dan Jarvis, the Defence Secretary, and James Murray, the Health Secretary, who were only appointed in the last few weeks, will also stay in post to avoid further turbulence in those departments.
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