Bruised Starmer Loyalists Threaten Budget Payback
5 min read
Labour MPs unhappy with the treatment of Keir Starmer loyalists have warned that they could make life difficult for Andy Burnham at the Budget.
“Andy’s Starmerite purge has created an incredibly powerful phalanx of skilled political operators who intimately know the government’s fiscal position," one Labour MP told PoliticsHome.
"Some sought assurances about the direction of travel before nominating Andy and have been alarmed at how quickly those assurances seem to have turned hollow.
"After the undoubted conference euphoria in Liverpool, the Autumn Budget will loom very large on the Horizon. That will be a big event,” they added.
While it was widely expected that Burnham would remove Starmer loyalists from ministerial positions after entering office, the scale of what is being described as a 'purge' has angered those close to the former prime minister, who argue it went too far.
Starmer allies David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Darren Jones, Steve Reed and Jo Stevens were all removed from Cabinet, as were Lord Hermer, Nick Thomas-Symonds and Baroness Chapman, who were ministers who attended Cabinet.
Defenders of Burnham’s approach have stressed to PoliticsHome that the former Manchester mayor sold himself as a departure from the last Labour leadership, which inevitably means making significant changes to the team. Several key Burnham allies have secured jobs in the new ministry, including Lou Haigh, Anneliese Midgley and Angela Rayner.
“It’s not what Andy said he would do, which is a real shame,” said one Labour MP who Burnham sacked from Cabinet.
Another MP complained: “There is a large group of MPs who believe in whole-PLP [Parliamentary Labour Party] collective responsibility, who expressed disagreement privately but were publicly loyal to Keir Starmer. What they are seeing in Andy’s new team is punishment for anyone who showed loyalty and a reward for the disrupters."
They added: “It feels like an early breach of trust for MPs who, for the sake of unity, gave their endorsements to Andy. We were promised an end to factionalism and recruitment based on merit.”
Labour's candidate in the Greater Manchester mayoral contest, Bev Craig, told PoliticsHome that Darren Jones may come to regret his public criticism of the PM's first cost-of-living announement (Alamy)
The treatment of Jones has become a particular source of frustration among Starmer’s supporters.
Jones, former chief secretary to the prime minister, was encouraged by Starmer allies to challenge Burnham for the leadership but ultimately ruled out a run, saying that he decided against it after recieving reassurances from Burnham about his economic policies. He was not offered a ministerial role in the new government on Monday.
"It's understandable after taking power in such a way to be insecure about those around you, but the new Prime Minister has shown naivety here. The purge has been far too obviously targeting those loyal to Keir Starmer," a different Labour MP said.
They warned: "It will cause problems for him in the future."
Just hours after leaving government, Jones publicly criticised Burnham's first cost-of-living announcement, posting on X that the new government's plan to scrap digital ID and use the money to take VAT off energy bills was unfunded.
Several Labour MPs told PoliticsHome that Jones' attack was a sign of things to come later in the year when Burnham sets out his spending plans.
The new Prime Minister has faced questions over how he would fund his cost-of-living policies, which also include capping bus fares at £2 and a 20 per cent cut to business rates for some hospitality settings, but full details are not expected to be confirmed until his first fiscal event as PM.
Bev Craig, the Labour candidate looking to succeed Burnham as Greater Manchester mayor, told PoliticsHome that Jones might come to regret his public criticism. “I wonder if Darren will look back and regret making a bit of a barbed dig," said Craig during an interview in Manchester earlier this week.
While he may have angered Starmer loyalists, there are early signs that Burnham's first few days in Downing Street have been well received by the public.
A More in Common survey published on Wednesday showed that the Prime Minister's personal ratings had increased 10 per cent in the last week, rising from +3 to +13. The poll indicated that Burnham has started particularly strongly with 2024 Labour voters, with 57 per cent saying he’s doing a good job, and 8 per cent bad.
Burnham also faces needing to reassure Labour MPs not in the north of England that his government will focus on all parts of the country.
Perron Moon, the Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth, told PoliticsHome that it was “troubling” to see what he described as a lack of regional representation in Cabinet. As PoliticsHome analysis illustrates, there are six MPs from seats in the northwest in Burnham's Cabinet, compared to one from the southwest, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander.
“As the most southerly Labour MP in the UK with some of the highest levels of deprivation, I find the ongoing focus on the North of England troubling," Moon said.
"Devolution and industrial regeneration are as important here in Cornwall as any part of the UK, if not more so. But it feels like the current narrative is about a model that is imposed on us.
"Whilst I've heard many other towns, cities and regions mentioned by this new administration, I haven’t heard Cornwall mentioned once. Sadly, I think some carry with them outdated and inaccurate stereotypes of Cornwall. That needs to change, and I'm hopeful that working with colleagues we can help to unleash the Cornish Celtic tiger.”
Additional reporting by Zoë Crowther
