Reeves backs Burnham to be PM despite reports she may be offered only junior role

Rachel Reeves has given her support to Andy Burnham to be the next prime minister, despite reports that she is likely to be moved out of the role of chancellor if he becomes the next Labour leader. The chancellor told the BBC she and Burnham were friends and did not appear to rule out accepting a more junior cabinet position. “I’m supporting Andy to be prime minister,” she said. Asked about reports that Burnham could offer her a more junior role in his cabinet, Reeves said: “I’m not going to pre-empt the decisions that the new prime minister will make. I’m backing Andy. I think he’d be a great prime minister, but those are his decisions, not mine to make.” Reeves, who became the first female chancellor after Labour’s landslide election victory in 2024, attended Burnham’s Westminster Hall rally on Monday and was not present as outgoing prime minister Keir Starmer gave his resignation speech. However, she told the broadcaster ahead of a planned address at the British Chamber of Commerce’s global annual conference on Thursday that “no one could doubt” her commitment to Starmer, with whom she has worked side by side since he became prime minister. “I’ve been by his side for six years now as shadow chancellor and then as chancellor of the exchequer,” she said. …