James Purnell has been out of politics for more than a decade. That is the fact a Labour aide pointed to when asked whether the former Cabinet minister could get back up to speed after years at the BBC. The same aide said Purnell might find it difficult to “get back into rhythm.” That is the risk Andy Burnham is taking.
Burnham confirmed the appointment on Monday as he builds a team for what could be a premiership as soon as July 17. Purnell will be chief of staff.
The two men go back a long way. They shared a flat. They played together in the “Demon Eyes” football team.
Old contemporaries from the New Labour era, they are now reunited at the top of an operation Burnham has branded “Manchesterism.” That brand matters. Burnham has styled himself as something new.
Something distinct from the factional wars that have defined Labour for a decade and more. Purnell’s return injects a distinctly Blairite influence into that project. Purnell resigned from Gordon Brown’s government in 2009 because Brown was not willing to cut welfare.
He was a Blairite minister. One Labour aide highlighted that he was a protege of Peter Mandelson. Mandelson is the architect of New Labour.
The political signal is clear. Ed Miliband’s allies played down the idea that the appointment is a setback for his hopes of becoming Chancellor.
They would say that. But the arithmetic is what it is. Burnham’s last rivals are wilting.
Darren Jones, a Starmer loyalist, had been talking up a challenge to avoid what his allies called a “coronation.” Jones ruled out forcing a contest this morning. He said he had been “reassured” in a conversation with Burnham.
Former defence minister Al Carns has also dropped out. The path is open. The mechanics of the hire are straightforward.
Purnell left government on a point of principle. He joined the BBC. He became a senior executive.
Now he comes back. The question is what he brings.
A decade out of politics is a long time. The rhythm of Westminster is not the rhythm of Broadcasting House. The Labour Party has changed.
The country has changed. Purnell has not been in the room for any of it.
But Burnham clearly thinks the trade-off is worth it. He gets a seasoned operator. A man who has been in Cabinet.
A man who knows how government works. A man who, for all the time away, understands the machine. And he gets a signal.
A signal to the centre ground. A signal to the Blairite wing that Burnham is not hostile.
That “Manchesterism” is not a break with the past. It is a continuation with a new accent. The danger is that the signal drowns out the message.
Burnham has spent years building a reputation as the outsider. The man who stood up to the Westminster consensus.
The man who won in Manchester on a platform of devolution and public service reform. Purnell is the opposite of that. He is the insider.
The man who quit because the government would not cut welfare fast enough. The man of Mandelson. One Labour aide put it bluntly.
Purnell had not been in politics for more than a decade. He could find it difficult to get back into rhythm.
That is the risk. The reward is a chief of staff who knows the job. Who has done the job.
Who Burnham trusts. The two men shared a flat.
They played football together. That personal history matters. But the political signal matters more.
And the signal is unmistakable.
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