A senior Labour backbencher has called on Andy Burnham to cull ministers from Sir Keir Starmer’s government, arguing that only a “real change at the top of government” can deliver the new politics that has been promised.
Jon Trickett has issued a dramatic challenge to Burnham on the eve of his coronation as Labour leader, arguing that he must not simply reshuffle ministers who embodied Sir Keir Starmer’s approach, but instead install a new leadership team capable of delivering a fundamentally different political project.
His intervention comes as Burnham prepares to appoint his first Cabinet next week. The i Paper exclusively revealed yesterday that Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, is currently in poll position to become his Chancellor – amid claims he has passed over Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who was the early frontrunner to take over the Treasury. Instead, Miliband is now tipped for a move to the Foreign Office.
Other members of Starmer’s current Cabinet expected to be given jobs include Lucy Powell, Lisa Nandy, Wes Streeting and Rachel Reeves, who is widely expected to see her job as Chancellor downgraded to a lesser Cabinet role.
The expected appointment of Mahmood to the Treasury has already sparked a backlash among some within the Parliamentary Labour Party, who see her as too right-wing.
Trickett is one of a small number of Labour MPs who refrained from nominating Burnham to be Labour Party leader.
‘A rejection of four versions of right-wing politics’
The former shadow cabinet minister and Labour MP for Normanton and Hemsworth says he is waiting to see whether Burham’s encouraging rhetoric is matched with a bold and credible plan for government.
In an article for Tribune magazine, which will be published on Monday, the veteran Labour MP argues that Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election was not simply a defeat for Reform UK, but a rejection of four versions of right wing politics: Nigel Farage’s insurgent populism, Rupert Lowe’s hardline nationalism, Kemi Badenoch’s neoliberal conservatism and Sir Keir Starmer’s centrist and managerial approach to government.
Trickett argues that Burnham’s administration must now offer a new political settlement that will require a break with the recent past.
He says it will not be enough to play musical chairs with the current Cabinet, insisting instead that the new Prime Minister must demonstrate that his Cabinet is fully aligned with his agenda.
He writes: “The Makerfield by-election offered working-class communities based in the North the opportunity to speak for the nation, and there is now a glimmer of hope.
“Although it was widely portrayed as another contest between Labour and Reform UK, in reality it was something far more significant.
“It represented a rejection of not one but four distinct versions of right-wing politics that have dominated Britain over the past decade.
“If Burnham’s politics of place, solidarity and active government can succeed, Britain may yet rebuild a more balanced and more democratic economy. If it can’t, the vacuum is unlikely to remain empty for long.”
Starmer says he leaves UK in ‘better shape’
In his final speech to Parliament after Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday Sir Keir Starmer defended his two years in office, and six years as Labour leader, saying he will leave the country “in better shape” than he found it, citing rooting anti-semitism out of Labour, winning a landslide election, stabilising the economy and bringing down NHS waiting lists.
Although Nigel Farge’s Reform was badly beaten by Burnham in Makerfield, his party has topped the polls for more than a year. Farage dramatically quit as MP for Clacton last week in order to restand and silence his criticism of his finances.
Meanwhile the Tories won the Aberdeen South by-election on the same day as Burnham won Makerfield for Labour.
Trickett argues that the verdict delivered by voters creates a mandate for Burnham to pursue a bold economic programme centred on materially improving living standards, rebuilding public services and democratic reform to restore faith in politics among working-class communities.
A veteran of successive Labour leaderships, Trickett worked in Downing Street under Gordon Brown before serving in the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn.
His intervention represents one of the clearest calls yet for Andy Burnham to signal a decisive break with the Starmer era as he prepares to take charge of the Labour Party at a special conference in central London on Friday.
Burnham will be formally installed as Prime Minister once he has visited the King at Buckingham Palace on Monday.
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