The clear-out of Keir Starmer’s allies was swift and brutal.
Some Westminster wags branded it the “night of the long eyelashes” as Andy Burnham dispensed with the services of a string of top ministers in a clear break with the Starmer era.
Steve Reed, David Lammy, Darren Jones, Peter Kyle, Lord Hermer – all close to the former PM – were among those told their time was up.
Rachel Reeves fought hard to stay on as Chancellor but she was too closely tied to the Starmer project, particularly its most totemic failure – the cut to the winter fuel allowance. It is understood that she declined the offer of another big Cabinet job.
Uncertainty over Burnham’s pick for Chancellor triggered a state of hysteria in Westminster. Speculation lurched from initial favourite Ed Miliband to Shabana Mahmood, who was confidently tipped by much of the media in the days running up to Burnham’s arrival in Downing Street.
But it was John Healey, the ex-Defence Secretary, who was handed control over the nation’s purse strings. Mahmood stays on as Home Secretary with a mandate from the PM to deliver her hard-line immigration reforms, while Miliband becomes Britain’s top diplomat.
Awkwardly, the pair ended up walking up Downing Street together to learn their fate – but still shared a quick hug.
Healey’s appointment as Chancellor was a surprise to many but perhaps it shouldn’t have been. The well-liked Labour veteran served in the Treasury under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and is seen as a safe pair of hands.
Despite sacking most of the Starmerites, Burnham says he wants to avoid division between Labour’s different tribes. Much of the briefing about the next Chancellor fixated on whether Miliband was too left-wing or whether Mahmood was too right wing. Healey is not aligned to one faction and is more of a unifying figure.
The PM’s team are clear he wants an experienced and trusted figure in the Treasury to deliver his vision. Healey, a Yorkshire MP, shares his concern about deindustrialisation, the cost of living and backing British industry.
Healey’s record as a housing minister, and his commitment to overhauling forces accommodation, while he was at the Ministry of Defence, clearly chimes with Burnham’s desire for a council house building boom.
Healey’s decision to resign over defence spending will put him under pressure to find cash for the armed forces. But his parting swipe at “Treasury orthodoxy” show he’s a safe pick with an edge – one who won’t spook the markets but can help to drive through radical reforms.
It is a blow to Miliband, who coveted the job of Chancellor, and played a pivotal role in the new PM’s rise to power. For months he was Burnham’s most powerful friend in Westminster, and is said to have been the first Cabinet Minister to privately urge Keir Starmer to resign.
But Burnham appears to heeded the backlash and handed him another great office of state instead as a consolation.
He also rewarded loyalty elsewhere by appointing key ally Louise Haigh, as First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The former Transport Secretary, who was sacked by Starmer over a historic fraud conviction, is now one of the most powerful people in Government.
Lucy Powell, another ally, becomes Education Secretary – and one of his right-hand women, Anneliese Midgely, was named as Chief Whip.
Angela Rayner is back in Government in her old role, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. She fought hard to win back this brief, which is a key priority for Burnham.
The PM kept Pat McFadden at the Department of Work and Pensions, in a sign of his commitment to fixing the welfare system and getting young people into work. He also moved experienced minister Yvette Cooper to the Department of Health, where she will drive much-needed reforms to the broken social care system.
The Cabinet continues to take shape but these appointments show us what the PM’s key priorities are.
It also shows us that while he has packed his Cabinet with experienced people, one key fact remains. There is only one vision here – and it’s his.