LONDON — Britain’s likely next prime minister Andy Burnham is lining up James Purnell, who previously served as a minister under Tony Blair, as his chief of staff in 10 Downing Street.
The proposed appointment is at an advanced stage as Burnham plans for his expected entry to No. 10 on July 17, two people with knowledge of the plan told POLITICO.
One of the two people, granted anonymity to discuss internal planning, said they believed Purnell’s appointment was “pretty much locked on.” The Times and Sky News reported the plan earlier on Tuesday evening.
Purnell preceded Burnham as Britain’s culture secretary under Tony Blair, but left parliament in 2010 after launching a failed attempt to topple Blair’s successor Gordon Brown the previous year.
He joined the BBC as its director of strategy in 2013 before joining the lobbying firm Flint Global in 2024 as its chief executive. His financial interests in Flint will likely need assessing under standard conflict-of-interest rules.
Purnell is one of Burnham’s longest-standing personal allies in Westminster, and was instrumental in his bid to become an MP aged 31 in 2001.
Purnell suggested that Burnham — then a special adviser — speak to Blair’s Political Secretary Sally Morgan about the possibility of running for a seat.
In his 2024 book “Head North,” Burnham described Purnell as “one of the clearest political thinkers I have ever met” and thanked him “for believing in me and seeing things others didn’t.”
Burnham is expected to be the only viable candidate for the Labour leadership in a contest triggered by Keir Starmer’s Monday announcement that he would resign.
Nominations by MPs will open on July 9 and close on July 15. If Burnham is the only candidate, as MPs widely expect, he will be confirmed as PM on July 17.
Burnham, who was sworn into Commons in Monday, is spending this week meeting MPs in parliament. He spoke to Starmer face-to-face Tuesday. Starmer’s office said it would grant Burnham formal access talks with the civil service, to begin discussing his program for government, as soon as possible.
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to correctly reflect the year Purnell left parliament.