Who Will Be Andy Burnham's Chancellor? The Choice Could Make – or Break – Him
The race for the Treasury has descended into a briefing war between rival Labour factions – Burnham’s choice will tell us all we need to know about how he will govern.
In the space of a single week I have been told, by people who had every reason to know, that the next chancellor will be Ed Miliband. Also Shabana Mahmood. Also Yvette Cooper. Also Wes Streeting.
Four names. Four confident briefers. One job.
The only honest conclusion is the one nobody in Westminster wants to admit: with days to go before Andy Burnham enters Downing Street, nobody knows for sure who will run the economy, and there is a real chance that includes Burnham himself.
He officially becomes Labour leader on Friday, and prime minister on Monday, when he will announce his cabinet. Between now and then Westminster will play the game it always plays: who is up, who is out, who gets which red box. Most of that is noise as there is one appointment that matters more than any other – his pick for chancellor is the clearest statement of what his government believes, and who Burnham chooses will tell us what kind of prime minister he intends to be.