{"id":662794,"date":"2026-06-28T13:19:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662794\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T13:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T13:19:15","slug":"lucy-powell-appears-to-endorse-ed-miliband-as-andy-burnhams-chancellor-ed-miliband","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/662794\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucy Powell appears to endorse Ed Miliband as Andy Burnham\u2019s chancellor | Ed Miliband"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ed Miliband would make a \u201cgood\u201d chancellor to Andy Burnham<\/a>, Labour\u2019s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has said, ahead of the likely next prime minister\u2019s first major speech on the economy since he returned to Westminster.<\/p>\n

Powell, who served as Miliband\u2019s chief of staff in opposition and is close to the former party leader, appeared to endorse him to run the Treasury \u2013 although some in Burnham\u2019s camp acknowledge such a move could be politically risky.<\/p>\n

But with ministers jostling for Burnham\u2019s ear<\/a>, Powell added that speculation around cabinet posts in a future government was \u201cunedifying\u201d and the focus should be on creating and securing jobs across the country instead.<\/p>\n

Asked whether she thought Miliband would be good at running the Treasury, she told the BBC: \u201cYes I do actually, but actually I think this is a slightly distracting conversation, because I think we\u2019ve all got a really important job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Powell said the cost of living should be her party\u2019s focus and not \u2018tittle-tattle\u2019 about Cabinet positions. Photograph: Christopher Furlong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Miliband remains the frontrunner<\/a> for the role of chancellor, with a view in Burnham\u2019s team that he has what it takes to smash through Treasury orthodoxy to pursue a more radical economy. But they also acknowledge that Burnham would expend some political capital by appointing him.<\/p>\n

Some inside Labour<\/a> are concerned that putting Miliband in the Treasury could unsettle the markets, while big business is sceptical and several of the big unions are opposed, as a result of his position on the North Sea and relentless focus on the net zero agenda.<\/p>\n

In his first big policy speech since Keir Starmer\u2019s resignation as prime minister, Burnham is expected on Monday to announce radical plans to devolve powers and money from Whitehall to England\u2019s regions \u2013 but also to do more to reassure the markets.<\/p>\n

Sources said the new Makerfield MP would lean heavily into his commitment to sticking to the fiscal rules and Labour\u2019s tax pledges. \u201cAndy has repeatedly said he will do so, but he needs to stress that again because it needs to really land,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

One ally suggested that Burnham\u2019s focus on fiscal responsibility could indicate which way he was planning to go with his chancellor \u2013 with his team saying he had not yet made a final decision. \u201cThe more boring the speech is, the more likely it is that Ed will be chancellor,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Others have mooted Shabana Mahmood for the role \u2013 although she is understood to be keen to stay at the Home Office \u2013 or the former health secretary Wes Streeting. The senior Labour MPs Yvette Cooper and John Healey have also been touted.<\/p>\n

If the energy secretary does make it to the Treasury, Labour insiders suggested he might have to make an early move \u2013 perhaps on the North Sea or welfare spending \u2013 to prove to his detractors he was serious about fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cEd would also have to do some things we are already doing much louder, make a show of ditching a few unpopular things, and pick a few that are new, one of which has to be a cost of living intervention,\u201d one source said.<\/p>\n

In her interview with the BBC, Powell said the cost of living should be her party\u2019s focus and not \u201ctittle-tattle\u201d about Cabinet positions.<\/p>\n

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Steve Reed, like Powell, ruled out holding a general election now. Photograph: Jeff Overs\/BBC\/PA<\/p>\n

Also appearing on the BBC programme, the communities and local government secretary, Steve Reed<\/a>, said Burnham would stick to the fundamentals of Labour\u2019s 2024 manifesto, including the fiscal rules, but there would be a \u201cshift in emphasis and focus\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reed, previously a Starmer loyalist but who has now said he would back Burnham, said the putative prime minister would \u201cwant to change some things\u201d, including on devolution and handing more power to communities.<\/p>\n

Both Reed and Powell ruled out holding a general election now, even though Labour\u2019s deputy leader had called for one when Liz Truss was instated as prime minister under the Tories.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people need to see now is us getting on with the job, delivering on the manifesto we were elected on only two years ago,\u201d Powell said, adding that she had called for one after Truss because that was a \u201cparticular time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a parliamentary democracy where the prime minister is chosen by MPs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reed said there was no need for an election because the UK did not have a presidential system and the public \u201cwant us to get on with the job\u201d. He warned his colleagues to stick together behind Burnham. \u201cFundamentally, we all hang together, or we all hang separately,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ed Miliband would make a \u201cgood\u201d chancellor to Andy Burnham, Labour\u2019s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, has said, ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":662795,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-662794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=662794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/662794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/662795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=662794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=662794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=662794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}