Varun Chandra, Starmer’s business adviser in No10, is set to stay on under Burnham. Continuity…
Chandra used to head Hakluyt, the strategic advisory firm formed of ex-spooks. He also served as special envoy for trade and investment with the US under Starmer. The soon-to-be-ex-PM’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell is also staying on…
The No10 operation led by Blairite veteran James Purnell is at risk of coming to loggerheads with leftist advisers with whom Burnham is also close. Then there’s the ‘soft left’ PLP, which is another headache…
Ed Miliband is currently expected to fail in his long-running mission to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, to be pipped to the post by former lawyer Shabana Mahmood. That point about the soft left again…
Former Treasury minister and adviser to Burnham in the Makerfield campaign Lord Jim O’Neill, who has turned down a role in his government, said Burnham’s first statement Commons was:
“The last thing investors wanted to hear… gilt yields have risen by a 0.25% in one day, which is a lot. We’ve not had that since Liz Truss days… If your country is under the focus of ‘can they come up with a sensible fiscal strategy’ on a day when the markets think ‘well no, you’re not showing any sign of it’ you’re going to have a tough day…if it stays like this your mortgage rate is going up.”