David Brent or ‘incredibly tough’: Labour insiders split over Burnham’s first week

Andy Burnham smiled as the opening chords of New Order’s True Faith echoed around the room. Moments after being confirmed as leader of the Labour Party last Friday, he clapped and dad-danced with supporters as the 1980s anthem became the soundtrack to his victory. For a politician who had endured two failed bids for the Labour leadership, the Manchester band’s lyrics – “I used to think that the day would never come” – captured the sense of persistence, disappointment and eventual triumph that has defined his political journey. Shorts For more than a year, Burnham’s allies had been preparing for his arrival in Downing Street. This week, the planning ended and the reality of government began. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham could choose his battles, champion his causes and often cast himself as an outsider taking on Westminster. As prime minister, he has no such luxury. Burnham hits the ground running – but without a mandate From now on, every decision he makes will create winners and losers. Every compromise will invite criticism. And every setback will become a test of competence. Nor is time on his side. New governments often spend months finding their feet as ministers master their briefs, build relationships with officials and turn political ambition into workable policy. Burnham, by contrast, inherits a government already well into its first term. By the time his administration has settled, he could have little more than two years to convince voters Labour deserves another term. Burnham’s challenge is greater still because he enters Downing Street without a mandate – something that has sparked renewed speculation this week that he could call an early general election. He inherits not only the authority of office, but the responsibility of explaining why replacing Sir Keir Starmer was necessary. Voters will judge not only whether Burnham governs well, but whether the change itself was justified. While Burnham’s supporters planned for the transfer of power, their task now is to show they planned just as carefully for what comes afterwards. Angela Rayner, who this week returns to her old job as Housing Secretary, acknowledged the scale of the challenge when she told Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday: “We are on borrowed time if we don’t get a move on – and Andy Burnham gets that.” Burnham at his first Cabinet meeting in Downing Street (Photo: Eddie Mulholland/AFP) In his first week as Prime Minister, Burnham announced plans to end rough sleeping, paused Starmer’s prison release scheme, floated and then reversed an unfreezing of the income tax personal allowance and cut bus fares, VAT on energy bills, and business rates for pubs and clubs – all with major questions remaining over how they will be funded. The commitments he has made so far add up to around £1.74bn a year, before any increase in defence spending is factored in. He has also appointed a new Cabinet, which has been described as “factional” and packed with allies – raising further questions about whether he is building a government of competence or loyalty. The most high-profile casualty was Rachel Reeves, who was replaced as Chancellor by John Healey. As The i Paper exclusively revealed on Thursday, Louise Haigh, the First Secretary, personally helped to pick the Cabinet while Annalise Midgley, the Chief Whip, oversaw the appointments of junior ministers. An MP who missed out on a ministerial job said they were relaxed about the decision. “It means I don’t have to keep quiet on mad things after biting my tongue for two years.” The MP warned that Burnham, and particularly Haigh, his chief enforcer, may have stored up trouble due to the number of MPs who missed out on a job. “They did get a lot of people expecting something.” It included one backbencher who was so certain they would secure a position in the new Government they cleared their summer plans and even cancelled their holiday only to find out they didn’t have a job. Another senior Labour figure said the “vindictiveness” of the reshuffle had “gone too far”. In particular, the treatment of Bridget Phillipson, who was demoted and replaced as education secretary by Lucy Powell, whom she lost to in the race to become Labour’s deputy leader, was singled out, as was the demotion of Dan Jarvis, who briefly replaced Healey as defence secretary. The source added ominously: “There will be a price to be paid.” There is also concern about the appointment of a chief whip – Midge, as she is known to her friends – who has only been an MP for two years. ‘A very broad coalition to hold together’ Some of Burnham’s Cabinet picks have highlighted the divisions in the Parliamentary Labour Party. For example, the appointment of Miatta Fahnbulleh as Energy Secretary has disappointed MPs who want to see new exploration licences granted for North Sea oil and gas. Fahnbulleh previously said that Britain should aim to hit net zero by the mid-2030s at the latest, rather than the current target of 2050, while another minister appointed to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Polly Billington, is a close ally of former energy secretary and now Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and also opposed to fresh exploration. A pro-drilling Labour MP said the DESNZ team “feels like little change at all”. “I worry that it makes a mockery of [Burnham’s] reindustrialisation pledge”. “Miliband was about to green light Jackdaw [a North Sea gas field] before he left, so it feels like we might be in a worse spot now with the new team”. A like-minded MP agreed that the appointments were “not great”, but added: “[Burnham’s] got a very broad coalition to hold together to be fair.” However, not everyone is so downbeat about Burnham’s Cabinet picks. “It’s a good Cabinet,” said one minister. “It took a while. A lot of us sat around thinking ‘is this ever going to end’?” On the purge of the Starmer loyalists, the source said: “It didn’t really come as a surprise. I don’t think it’s a contradiction to say we’re going to end factionalism, but then in your top team you still want people that you know and can completely trust. “He’s only got three years- he’s going to want people next to him that he can absolutely rely on. I get that, it’s difficult for people, but I totally get it.” The appointment of Healey as Chancellor drew the greatest praise. One Labour MP said: “It does make sense. If his choice was for various reasons it can’t be Ed [Miliband], it can’t be [Home Secretary] Shabana [Mahmood], it’s probably the most obvious choice. The appointment of John Healey as Chancellor drew the greatest praise (Photo: James Speakman/PA) “He was a good defence secretary; he’s a decent person. In terms of setting the right tone and getting the Treasury into a place that’s collaborative, I think he’s probably the right person to do that.” Lord David Blunkett, one of Burnham’s political mentors, said the Prime Minister had chosen a Cabinet “in his own image”, prioritising trusted allies over party management. While acknowledging the reshuffle had left “a lot of very hurt and bruised people”, he argued the only meaningful test would be whether the new team could improve living standards and public services before the next election. “He’s demonstrated he can be incredibly tough,” Blunkett said, arguing Burnham would be “very demanding” of ministers who failed to deliver. He said the Prime Minister had deliberately kept ministers who had already shown they could make an impact, rather than simply rewarding political allies. Burnham has certainly hit the ground running with a series of eye-catching announcements. But it is clear there have already been teething problems as his plans hit contact with reality. For the first three days, his cost of living announcements came in the form of a 6am press release – not deliberately timed to coincide with the main morning broadcast round, but because they failed to get it cleared in time the night before. There have also been questions about how some of the policies are being funded. Starmer’s former chief secretary, Darren Jones, criticised Burnham’s energy bill announcement by arguing that the policy lacked a clear and credible funding source. Although Burnham’s government said the estimated £850m cost of removing VAT from electricity bills would be covered by cancelling the previous government’s digital ID programme, Jones argued that this did not represent a genuine saving because the digital ID scheme itself had not been fully funded. A Labour source joked that Jones’s intervention led to Midgley removing him from her list as “‘rehabilitation is possible to ‘never-coming-back’.” ‘Next week needs to have some heft to it’ Alongside the early U-turns on restoring the 50p top rate of tax and raising the personal allowance, it is understood that some policy changes have been more difficult to implement than others. According to multiple sources, the idea of merging the Wales Office with the Scotland Office and Northern Ireland was mooted before being abandoned. Early plans sketched out before Burnham entered No 10 to put Thames Water into a Special Administration Scheme (SAR) also appear to have been put on ice. A Labour MP said: “He’s [Burnham] done well. Usually the press is all ‘woe is the country’ and a blanket of negativity comes down, but he has done well this week. “There are a bunch of people who are disappointed by the reshuffle. Mostly younger people who thought they’d be rewarded.” Another senior Labour figure admitted the start had been a bit shaky but urged colleagues to give the new government time to bed in. “Next week needs to have some heft to it though,” he added. Some Labour figures privately joke that Burnham’s style can have “a bit of a David Brent about it”, a reference to the fictional office manager known for earnest but occasionally awkward attempts at leadership. On Friday, Burnham officially opened No 10 North in Manchester, a new government hub designed to bring decision-making closer to communities outside Westminster. Calling it the “best day of my life”, he rejected suggestions the project was a gimmick and argued it would help create a more balanced country. The symbolism is obvious. Burnham spent years arguing that power in Britain is too concentrated in London. Now he has the chance to prove that governing can be done differently. But symbolism will only take him so far. The preparations for power are over; the test is whether the new Prime Minister can turn ambition into results before voters are asked to pass judgment. At least one part of the transition appears to be going smoothly. As departments scramble to adapt to life under a Prime Minister who plans to spend much of his time in Manchester, Whitehall has already begun recruiting videographers for No 10 North. After a week dominated by announcements, reshuffles and carefully choreographed launches, Burnham can at least be confident of one thing: there will be plenty of content. The harder task will be making sure the story of his premiership is more than just a well-polished production.