The UK Labour Party seems on the verge of finding its northern soul.
And former Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham appears to be on the verge of replacing Surrey boy Keir Starmer as UK prime minister.
The party’s leadership race timetable suggests Burnham could be confirmed for the job as soon as July 15th if no other challengers emerge, and he could be in post as soon as July 17th.
Who may be the key members of Team Burnham, helping him to run Britain?
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Chancellor of the exchequer
If, as seems inevitable, Burnham moves into Number 10 Downing Street, his choice of next door neighbour in Number 11 may define his premiership.
The current occupant Rachel Reeves (47) was once a double act with Starmer and seems to be on her way out, although she is lobbying to be kept in the post.
The name most often linked with the UK’s second most powerful post under Burnham is Ed Miliband (56). The former Labour leader’s intellectual ability and authority around Whitehall make him one of the most influential figures on the left of the party.
Miliband was once a close friend of Starmer and convinced the outgoing prime minister to go into politics in 2015, but their relationship soured after Miliband is alleged to have secretly plotted to help Burnham oust him.
The two men’s brands of politics are compatible. Burnham promised during the Makerfield byelection to “rewire” Britain and end “40 years of neoliberal politics”. Miliband’s radicalism and heft could help him to achieve it.
There would be complications with his appointment. The party’s right-wing factions are instinctively opposed to him taking over at the treasury, as they fear his ideological left-wing views could spook bond markets.
[ Mark Paul: Can Burnham be a better prime minister than Starmer?Opens in new window ]
A split has also emerged over Miliband in the trade union movement that swung in behind Burnham. Sharon Graham, leader of Unite, one of the UK’s biggest unions, has decried Miliband’s attachment to net zero policies, which she believes would make him a “noose around the neck” of blue collar job creation as chancellor.
Unite wants the North Sea opened up for more oil drilling, which Miliband has stymied as net zero secretary. But Andrea Egan, boss of the biggest union, Unison with 1.3 million members, backed Miliband for the job, saying he would “rewire the economy”.
Burnham and Miliband are believed to have met several times since his Makerfield win.
Shabana Mahmood (45), a standard bearer of the socially-conservative Blue Labour wing of the party, is seen as a right-leaning radical alternative to Miliband for the treasury role.
She is a reformer who is unafraid of unpopularity in her own party, as the hardline immigration reforms she has sought to enact as home secretary show. If she isn’t made chancellor, Burnham would be expected to leave her in the home office.
Wes Streeting (43), the former health secretary, eschewed running for the Labour leadership and backed Burnham. What could be his reward? Sources say he was not promised any job, but he fancies the chancellor role. He would have enough authority for the job but Burnham may be wary of appointing one of his most ambitious erstwhile rivals to the plum job next door.
Among the dark horses for the chancellor job is old Blairite Pat McFadden (61), currently work and pensions secretary and seen as one of the safest pairs of hands in Labour politics. He would also be unafraid of tackling the thorny (in Labour) issue of welfare reform. McFadden is the Glasgow-born son of Irish-speaking parents from Falcarragh in Donegal. Another dark horse could be John Healey, the former defence secretary.
Deputy prime minister
The favourite for this role is Lucy Powell, the directly-elected deputy leader of the Labour Party. Powell is a Manchester-based MP, prominent in the same geographical strongholds as Burnham. They worked closely together during his Makerfield campaign.
Powell has long argued that, whoever is leader, the Labour Party needs to re-establish a sense of unity and move beyond factionalism. By making her deputy prime minister, Burnham would also return that position’s link to the party deputy leadership since Angela Rayner, who held both, was forced from government last September.
Rayner (46), another of Greater Manchester set holding sway in the party, is also known to covet a return to the deputy prime minister position after sorting her tax affairs. She may not get it, but her star power, standing with party members, and her abilities as a reforming minister will likely see her back in cabinet in some role.
Foreign secretary
Another big choice facing Burnham, who is a blank page on foreign affairs; nobody really knows much about his views on geopolitics. It is ironic that at a time of global turmoil, with US president Donald Trump and Ukraine on the agenda, Burnham, more attuned to domestic issues, is poised for Downing Street.
That suggests he might be tempted to appoint a foreign affairs big hitter to the role, an old hand, if Yvette Cooper is moved on. The most intriguing possibility is David Miliband (60), Ed’s older brother whom the younger Miliband famously outmanoeuvred for the Labour leadership in 2010.
A former foreign secretary under Gordon Brown, David Miliband is president of US-based International Rescue Committee. He was a contender for the Washington ambassador role that went to Peter Mandelson.
While US-based, he regularly pops up in London for foreign policy speeches, a sign he may covet a role back in government. Burnham would have to appoint him to the House of Lords to get him into his cabinet.
Another prime contender for the foreign secretary role would be Streeting; Burnham might prefer to busy the former leadership contender on matters abroad, while Streeting would also relish appointment to one of the UK’s great offices of state.
Reeves, who this week backed Burnham and was not there to support Starmer as he resigned, could be an outside contender if she is evicted from Number 11, although a more junior cabinet role is also possible.
Other key cabinet positions
Watch rising star Miatta Fahnbulleh (46), who resigned as a junior minister to pressure Starmer to quit. The left-leaning, Liberia-born economist, with a glittering academic career and degrees from Oxford and the London School of Economics, is influential on economic policy behind the scenes in the Burnham camp.
She is also extremely close to Ed Miliband. If he gets chancellor, could she replace him as net zero secretary?
Former transport secretary Lou Haigh (38) has emerged as perhaps the closest MP to Burnham during his Downing Street drive. She helped to mastermind his Makerfield win and is essentially Burnham’s gatekeeper, as MPs and ministers jockey for jobs.
Highly political and seen as one of the most talented MPs in the Labour Party, Haigh seems destined to return to cabinet. This could be in some sort of wide-ranging enforcer-type cabinet role such as the cabinet-office linked chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, or perhaps as chief secretary to the prime minister.
The current occupant of the latter role, Darren Jones (39), this week weighed rivalling Burnham for the Labour leadership, but decided against it and backed him instead. Widely regarded as a future contender for chancellor and possibly even a future prime minister, he is likely to be appointed to a senior role by Burnham.
Anneliese Midgley (50) helped Haigh to oversee Burnham’s Makerfield campaign. The Knowsley MP, part of Labour’s 2024 intake, has a low-key public profile. She was serially underrated as a political operator by people outside of the party, but not any more, and never by anyone who knew Labour and the tough world of trade union politics, where she previously excelled.
Midgley seems destined for a big role, possibly chief whip.
Back room team and advisers
Some gilded denizens of the Westminster clique seem convinced that James Purnell (56), a former cabinet member under Gordon Brown, has been tapped by Burnham to be his Downing Street chief of staff.
After politics, he was the director of strategy at BBC and later a lobbyist. Now, it seems, he will help the incoming PM to deliver his agenda.
Burnham’s back room economic advisers include Jim O’Neill (69), a former Goldman Sachs banker who now sits in the House of Lords; Andy Haldane (58), a former economist at the Bank of England; and Richard Hughes (51), who used to head the UK’s Office of Budget Responsibility but left after sensitive budget documents were prematurely posted online.
Olly Robbins (51), Starmer sacked as head of the foreign office during the Mandelson scandal, is tipped for a comeback as Burnham’s national security adviser.
