Sunday, June 28, 2026
A power vacuum?
The paper says that for all Keir Starmer’s call for unity, the rancour is everywhere, Burnham is now inevitable: he will become prime minister on July 20, the day after the World Cup final:
The scale of his win in the Makerfield by-election, where he crushed Reform UK and won more than 50 per cent of the vote, was enough to make the case for him. It was ultimately a bloodless coup, but for Starmer loyalists it is still a bitter pill to swallow.
“We’ve passed the two most left-wing budgets in more than half a century, then bled votes to the Greens,” one senior Labour source said. “We should probably reflect about why that is before lurching off to the left again.”
Burnham finds himself attempting to build a fully fledged policy platform and a cabinet in the space of three and a half weeks, which allies have compared to attempting to build a plane mid-flight. It is no small task and unsurprisingly has left something of a vacuum.
The Labour Party is in a state of suspended animation where everyone’s political future, barring Starmer’s, lies in the balance.
In the bars of Westminster this week there has been a heady mix of fear, hope, anger and elation, depending on who you talk to. Some have descended into all-out civil war.
The battle to become Burnham’s chancellor has turned into an increasingly vitriolic briefing war as Ed Miliband’s critics do everything they can to stop him entering No 11.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, is attempting to sack her migration minister for writing an unauthorised article in The Times about Labour’s migration policy. Starmer won’t let her.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered defence spending plan is finally about to see the light of day next week as Starmer seeks to secure at least one part of legacy. Senior Labour figures and defence chiefs remain seriously concerned it is not enough.
The paper adds that there are likely to be big jobs for Burnham’s most senior allies: Josh Simons, who made way for him to stand in Makerfield, Louise Haigh, the former transport secretary, and the MP Anneliese Midgley.
However, they add that almost the entire cabinet is in the dark about their futures, with particular uncertainty around the role of chancellor, as Burnham’s allies are clear that Rachel Reeves will not stay in the role. It is expected to come down to a two-horse race between Miliband, the energy secretary, and Shabana Mahmood.
In the meantime, it is almost as if the process of government is on ice.
