Andy Burnham’s government-in-waiting has descended into chaos as he dithers over whether to appoint Ed Miliband or Shabana Mahmood as Chancellor.
Reports that Mr Miliband’s ambition to take over at the Treasury is about to be dashed have sparked a fierce briefing war at Westminster.
Ms Mahmood has emerged as favourite for the position, with one ally of Mr Burnham declaring she is ‘nailed down as Chancellor’.
But others close to the incoming PM insisted that, with just days to go until he enters Downing Street on Monday, he has still not made up his mind about an appointment that will set the tone for his government.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is also still pushing for the position, with friends highlighting her experience as a Treasury minister in the last Labour government.
Mr Miliband has long been the favourite for the job and has been working with Mr Burnham on his economic plans for government for months.
But the possibility of his taking charge at the Treasury has sparked a ferocious backlash that has united business, trade unions and Blairite Labour MPs.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of the powerful Unite union, warned Mr Burnham last month that Mr Miliband’s obsession with Net Zero would be a ‘noose around the neck’ of job creation.
A Bloomberg survey of investors on Wednesday found that just 5 per cent support the idea of appointing the former Labour leader as Chancellor. Ms Mahmood fared only slightly better, with 11 per cent support. Former health secretary Wes Streeting was the frontrunner with the backing of more than 30 per cent of investors, but has fallen out of favour.
But ditching Mr Miliband now could trigger a massive row with Left-wing MPs who are pushing Mr Burnham to deliver a significant change of direction.
There was speculation that Mr Miliband could be made foreign secretary as a consolation prize. But denying him the Treasury would risk angering a key ally who played a significant role in forcing out his former friend Keir Starmer.
One Labour MP sympathetic to Mr Miliband said he was the only minister with the experience needed to push through radical changes at the Treasury.
‘Ed has shown he can get things done in government and he has the experience to take on the Treasury, which is the biggest obstacle to delivering real change,’ the source said. ‘If Andy bottles it now he is going to end up running a continuity Starmer government where the Treasury is basically still in charge. That is a recipe for certain failure.’
Tory frontbencher Ben Obese-Jecty said Mr Burnham’s dithering was already damaging the country.
He told the Mail: ‘With only a few days until he takes over as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham’s paralysis over who will be his Chancellor amid infighting in his inner circle shows how unprepared he is for Government.
‘After the disaster of the Starmer administration, Burnham’s rush to seize power whilst avoiding scrutiny, without a plan or an economic vision, shows he is on the cusp of filling his Cabinet with last-minute panic appointments.
‘The next stage of this ill-thought-out coup already appears to be in trouble.’
A spokesman for Mr Burnham said ‘no decisions’ have been made about the make-up of his new cabinet.
But an ally of the new PM told the Financial Times: ‘Shabana is nailed down as chancellor. That’s definitely happening.’
Ms Mahmood has been keen to remain at the Home Office and moving her would create a vacancy that would be difficult to fill. She has limited economic knowledge, having served as a junior member of Labour’s Treasury team in opposition. Appointing a member of the Labour Right to the role would also risk a backlash from Left-wing MPs.
By contrast, Ms Cooper has considerable experience, serving as chief secretary to the Treasury in the last Labour government.
Mr Miliband was an adviser to Gordon Brown in the Treasury for years.
Treasury officials are preparing to brief Mr Burnham and his new chancellor on the dire state of the public finances when he takes charge next week. The Resolution Foundation think tank last night warned that the new PM and chancellor are ‘not starting from a position of fiscal strength’, with the Iran war cutting the government’s fiscal headroom by nearly £15 billion.
Mr Burnham indicated he is preparing to impose tax rises, saying people might be asked to pay ‘a little more’.
Kemi Badenoch said: ‘We are heading for another summer of chaos with Labour obsessing about who they can tax to pay for more benefits. It doesn’t matter who is in charge, the problem is the Labour Party.’
How have we ended up with this utter disaster of a government?
Sunak, Boris, and Cameron were all covert failures. The current state of affairs was created by promoting economic conservatism while permitting liberal immigration laws. They keep in their circles behind the gates and don’t really interact with regular people in regular places, so it doesn’t affect them, and now we are footing the bill.
People wanted “change”, but they never asked what it entailed, even though many of us who have actually seen previous Labour Governments in action knew precisely what would happen and tried to tell them.
Milliband is more hated than Starmer. If Burnham appoints Milliband to any government position, then it will be the same rot as before, and Labour MPs will turn on Burnham before the next election to protect their own skins, and the next few years will be a lot rougher than the past two years.
Andy Burnham will be the new captain, re-shuffling the deck chairs, but the Titanic is still sinking.
Milliband would bring chaos; keep him well away from the cabinet.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 