David Miliband ‘optimistic’ about Burnham government

Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband says he is “optimistic” about Andy Burnham’s prospects of becoming the next Prime Minister.

“I think that openness and energy is very attractive and positive,” Burnham, who is widely expected to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Labor leader and prime minister, told a think-tank in London on Friday.

Former Labor cabinet minister James Purnell has said Burnham’s expected appointment as Downing Street chief of staff is “fantastic”.

“I will not lose the hope of my youth,” Miliband said at an event organized by the Center for Global Development think tank.

“Andy Burnham, James (Purnell) and I came into the House of Commons at the same time in 2001 and I think[Burnham]has always had this amazing ability to listen, to communicate, to process information and ideas and information.

There is speculation that Miliband, the elder brother of Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, could return to frontline politics in the Burnham government.

In the year He stood down as MP for South Shields in 2023 to take up the positions of president and chief executive of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) – jobs he still holds.

Usually, the Prime Minister’s Cabinet is made up of members of Parliament.

But in theory, Miliband could join the cabinet if given a peer in the House of Lords, as former prime minister David Cameron did when he was foreign secretary in Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government.

Burnham has spoken mainly about domestic policy since winning the Mackerfield election and is due to give a speech on the economy and devolution on Monday.

On the show, the BBC asked Miliband what his message was to the next prime minister about the UK’s aid spending and whether he would be interested in joining a Burnham government if he entered Downing Street.

Miliband said: “My message is really read the IRC’s publications because they offer such evidence-based and innovative and cost-effective ways of serving the most vulnerable and impoverished parts of the world. So go there.”

He later did not respond when asked if he had been in contact with Burnham’s team recently.

A person familiar with Miliband told the BBC he would be a “huge asset to Andy Burnham’s cabinet”, citing his work on international affairs, humanitarian action and climate change.