Andy Burnham picks former Blair minister James Purnell as chief of staff
Andy Burnham picks fossil fuel lobbyist James Purnell as chief of staff. Just in case you thought energy policy might improve.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/23/andy-burnham-picks-former-blair-minister-james-purnell-as-his-chief-of-staffOpen linkView original on infosec.pub
Fuck. We’re getting Farage, aren’t we?
I've given up trying to predict politics since 2015. There's at least five million reasons why Farage might still fail.
Neither the Guardian article, nor his Wikipedia entry mention any lobbying for fossil fuels. Do you have a source for this?
It literally says he was CEO of Flint Global. It's known they've lobbied for BP, but they don't declare who they work for.
Well as someone who's never heard of Flint Global, I think the fossil fuel link required supporting data.
Even still, having worked in the past for a company that did lobbying for many industries, one of which was fossils is still a ways from "fossil fuel lobbyist". That sort of claim requires more direct evidence for me.
He is however the former chair of Friends of Israel though, so I think were on the same "fuck this guy" page.
The faces change but the evil stays the same
More of the same, then.
Again, Burnham does not - and has never - spoken for the left of the party. And I don't mean the SCG, I mean any non-Blairite.
He's a snake and always has been. If people think Starmer is bad, you're gonna be spitting blood by Christmas.
SCG?
And I suspect many would still rank Blair's government above any since, despite the Iraq scandal and it including Mandelson. Even now, some still listen to him, despite his funders.
I doubt anyone serious expects Burnham to be far left. Not even the tabloid headline writers believe what they're writing.