Burnham named UK Labour leader amid dissent over expected chancellor
Andy Burnham is set to become the UK's next prime minister, but a brewing internal rebellion over his expected choice of chancellor threatens to overshadow his promised economic reforms.
Labour is holding a special conference today to formally announce Andy Burnham as its new leader. He will not actually take office or begin appointing his cabinet until Monday, when he is expected to be appointed prime minister and move into No 10.
In a speech to the conference, Burnham will promise to lead a government that is "unashamedly Labour in our priorities and in the decisions we take, putting people and places at the heart of everything we do". He will also pledge the "courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected" and the "conviction to argue for our plans".
Burnham has offered an early signal of his domestic spending priorities, indicating a major push to reform social care. Speaking to the public in Cardiff, he pointed to his father’s battle with Alzheimer’s and said: "If there’s one area that I’m going to expend quite of a lot of social capital [on], it’s going to be on social care." Any large-scale restructuring of this system would have significant implications for UK public finances and the wider economy.
However, the immediate focus for investors and markets is shaping up to be who Burnham appoints as chancellor. Reports suggest he plans to give the role to Shabana Mahmood, the current home secretary. The prospect has triggered immediate pushback from within his own party, raising early questions about fiscal direction.
Rachael Maskell, a prominent leftwing MP, argued Ed Miliband would be a better fit because he "has Treasury experience and he’s been able to bring our party together around some very difficult issues". She said Mahmood "hasn’t got the level of skill and experience to provide the leadership that is needed in the Treasury".
Anonymous critics have been harsher. A senior Burnham ally told the Times: "Shabana has no sense of the economics. It’s just not something she’s ever spoken about. She’s not collaborative. It’s not clear how she would drive the machine." Another Labour MP said the move "doesn’t bode well for the fundamental rethink of how we actually do government" given Miliband's finance background under Gordon Brown.
The criticism extends beyond Labour's ranks. Green party leader Zack Polanski warned that Burnham risks looking like "Keir Starmer with a different face". Polanski challenged Burnham to deliver on a wealth tax and council house building, contrasting Labour's platform with his own by asking: "why have semi-skimmed when you could come to the Green party and actually have the full version?"
