UK's Reeves backs bid by Burnham for next PM

The increasingly inevitable-looking appointment of Andy Burnham as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the governing Labour Party has moved a step closer after one of the party's current leading lights gave him her backing.

Rachel Reeves was appointed as the first female holder of the position of Chancellor of the Exchequer, or finance minister, by Keir Starmer following Labour's general election victory in July 2024.

But with Starmer having bowed to internal pressure at the start of this week and announcing his resignation as prime minister, rival candidates have stepped aside, leaving Burnham, a former health minister, a seemingly unhindered path to the top job.

It has already been reported that, should he assume power, Burnham would replace Reeves, and Reeves told the BBC that, regardless of what happened to her, he had her approval.

"I'm supporting Andy to be prime minister," she said. "I'm not going to preempt the decisions that the new prime minister will make (about the role of chancellor). I'm backing Andy. I think he'd be a great prime minister, but those are his decisions, not mine to make."

Bearing fruit

At a summit of the British Chambers of Commerce, when asked about who might succeed her, Reeves said, "I hope that whoever is chancellor, in the future, whenever that future may be, sticks to what I'm doing because it is beginning to bear fruit.

"And we are seeing that investment return to the economy, that growth return to the economy, and crucially, that stability, so that businesses can plan and invest for the future."

Burnham has spent the last nine years serving as mayor of Greater Manchester but will relinquish that post following his recent return to parliament, as required by Labour Party leadership rules.

He has already been spoken of as having a less London-centric approach to government, and several of his closest allies from Manchester are expected to accompany him if he ends up entering the prime minister's residence.

The biggest and most likely first decision about his Cabinet, however, will be whom he chooses as chancellor, with the Financial Times suggesting that Reeves had been keen to hold on to her job, but that Burnham was likely to give her a more junior role.

Potential replacements include former Labour leader Ed Miliband, who is currently the energy secretary, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, or Wes Streeting, the former health secretary.

julian@mail.chinadailyuk.com