Rachel Reeves backing Andy Burnham as next PM despite speculation over Leeds MP's role as Chancellor
“I think he’d be a great prime minister” 👀
Rachel Reeves says she is “backing” Andy Burnham to be the UK’s next prime minister amid speculation she could be replaced as Chancellor if he takes office.
Speaking to the BBC, the Leeds West and Pudsey MP, who is predicted to be replaced if Mr Burnham becomes prime minister, would not be drawn on reports she may accept another role.
“I’m not going to pre-empt the decisions that the new prime minister will make,” she said. “I’m backing Andy.
“I think he’d be a great prime minister, but those are his decisions, not mine to make.”
The Makerfield MP, who has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Sir Keir Starmer, is reportedly yet to settle on his choice of chancellor. Speculation has focused on the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.
But some within Labour have cautioned against appointing Mr Miliband, with chief secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones appearing to suggest the former party leader would not meet his “tests” for a new chancellor.
Mr Jones said any new chancellor should not seek to “control” the prime minister, and would have to “reassure” markets, trade unions, MPs and the public – and he declined to say whether he thought Mr Miliband passed those “tests”.
Ms Reeves added that “no one could doubt” her commitment to Sir Keir in recent years.
“I’ve been by his side for six years now as shadow chancellor and then as Chancellor of the Exchequer,” she told the public broadcaster.
The Chancellor said: “I know that whoever is prime minister and chancellor in the future will inherit a stronger economy than the one I inherited two years ago.”
Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s annual global conference later on Thursday, Ms Reeves urged her successor to stick to her economic plans.
She 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 in the future.”
Sky News reported yesterday (June 24) that Ms Reeves’ team had been calling Britain’s top businesses asking them to lobby Andy Burnham to keep her as Chancellor.