Andy Burnham has picked James Purnell as his chief of staff, the Guardian understands, and the hire is the first big call of his pre-government team. Purnell has signalled he will take the job. He is understood to be still negotiating terms.
The two men go back a long way. They arrived in parliament together after the 2001 general election, both representing Greater Manchester seats, and shared an office. Years earlier, in the 1990s, they played on the same football team, Demon Eyes, named after the Tory attack ad on Tony Blair before the 1997 election. Burnham liked to joke that when news broke, Purnell got the calls from Radio 4 and he got the ones from 5 Live.
Both later served as culture secretary. Purnell also ran the Department for Work and Pensions under Gordon Brown, and resigned from that post after the 2009 local elections in an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Brown. He went on to the BBC as director of strategy and in 2024 became chief executive of the lobbying firm Flint Global. After the 2010 defeat he was offered the chief of staff job under Ed Miliband as opposition leader. He turned it down.
Burnham’s own book, “Head North,” written with Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram, calls Purnell “one of the clearest political thinkers I have ever met.” A former journalist who knows him told the Mirror: “James is a great choice by Andy. He’s calm, smart and understands policy.”
The Miliband question
Miliband himself is in the middle of the argument over who becomes chancellor. Many around Burnham want the energy secretary in the job, the Guardian reported, but others warn it would anger business and some unions. Figures on the right of the party prefer Wes Streeting, who they say could calm the bond markets and still leave Burnham room for radical policy.
The Telegraph has reported that Burnham’s allies raised “serious concerns” about giving Miliband the Treasury, fearing a repeat of the Blair-Brown tensions. The same report said Burnham is wary of creating rival power centres, and that no final decisions on cabinet posts have been made. The Mirror added that Miliband is likely to keep significant influence over policy either way, having reportedly helped draw up Burnham’s economic programme since before the Makerfield by-election.
Yvette Cooper and John Healey have also been mentioned for the Treasury.
Burnham, who re-entered parliament this week as MP for Makerfield, is expected to become prime minister next month. Streeting, his most likely rival, has said he will back him. Ex-armed forces minister Al Carns has not ruled out standing, but Darren Jones has said he will not.
Sources
- Andy Burnham picks former Blair minister James Purnell as chief of staff
- Next PM: Burnham lines up first Number 10 appointment after Starmer's fiery PMQs
