Sadiq Khan lobbies Burnham to appoint Miliband as Chancellor
London mayor Sadiq Khan has weighed into the debate over who should be the next chancellor, lobbying Andy Burnham to select Ed Miliband for the job.
In a private discussion with Burnham, Khan argued that Miliband had both the political skills and economic expertise to deliver Burnham’s agenda, including devolving powers to city regions, people familiar with the discussion said.
Khan’s push for Miliband comes as a fierce debate rages within Labour over who should enter No 11, with home secretary Shabana Mahmood and work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden also floated for the role.
Miliband, who spent time in the Treasury during Gordon Brown’s premiership, is however facing backlash from both union leaders and fellow Labour MPs, who argue his net zero agenda is harming the UK’s industrial base and North Sea oil production.
Miliband has stalled on giving the green light to new exploration projects from Shell and Equinor and refused to ease North Sea drilling licences, with the owners of the Jackdaw gas platform warning that this could leave the UK at risk of a winter fuel shortage earlier this week.
One Labour MP said to the Financial Times: “If Ed goes to the Treasury, we might as well pack up and go home.”
Sharon Graham, head of the Unite union, also said that putting Miliband into the Treasury would put “a noose around the neck” of job creation.
Burnham and the North Sea
A spokesman for Khan said they would not “comment on private conversations” and that he will “work with whoever is chancellor for the good of London”.
Senior Labour figures have said that allies of Miliband have been calling on influential figures in the party to reassure them that the energy secretary is not as hostile towards North Sea exploration as his stance may seem.
Burnham has also reportedly been receptive to colleagues’ requests for a change of policy on North Sea oil and gas, but did not make any firm promises, with one Scottish Labour MP calling him “non-committal but positive”.
The prospective prime minister has spent much of the week in talks with civil servants to flesh out his agenda before making appointments, with his choice of chancellor widely seen as the first big test of his leadership.
Burnham is due to be anointed Labour leader next Friday after he received 322 nominations from Labour MPs on the first day of the leadership contest.
This wave of votes makes it mathematically impossible for any other candidate to stand.
Sector thoughts on Miliband
While Miliband does not have the backing of Unite, he does of the UK’s biggest union, Unison.
Lord Nick Macpherson, who was permanent secretary of the Treasury for over a decade, also argued that Miliband has the expertise to be a good chancellor.
However, a number of City figures have also weighed into the conversation, arguing banks and the market would not receive Miliband in the Treasury well.
One senior UK banking source told City PM: “Ed Miliband would be a disaster… I just don’t think he believes in a deregulated system.”
The banker instead called for Wes Streeting or Jonathan Reynolds, figures who show an “understanding” of the free market.
The boss of investment bank Cavendish also told City PM markets would take a Miliband appointment in “a worse way”, claiming the energy secretary had the “wrong angles”.