LONDON, July 15 (Reuters) – Andy Burnham is set to name interior minister Shabana Mahmood as his finance minister when he becomes Britain’s prime minister next week, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing three people briefed on his thinking.
Sterling had rallied earlier on Wednesday to a one-year high against the euro on speculation that Mahmood, rather than the more left-wing energy minister, Ed Miliband, would succeed Rachel Reeves when Keir Starmer steps down as prime minister on Monday.
A spokesperson for Mahmood declined to comment on the report, while there was no immediate response from Burnham’s team.
The FT said a spokesperson for Burnham had declined to comment on possible ministerial appointments before they are formally announced on Monday.
Mahmood has little economic policy experience and has taken a tough line on immigration, but she is further to the right in the governing Labour Party than Miliband, whose promotion of net-zero emissions policies has been unpopular with some businesses.
Separately, Burnham said in an interview that he would take his time to assess the nation’s finances but would not be afraid to take difficult decisions, even if that meant raising more money from taxpayers.
“We are going to have to work quite hard to make sure we can pay our way and, at some point, that might be having to ask for a little more — but those decisions are not for now, they’re for another day,” he said in the interview with broadcaster Gary Lineker, which was published on YouTube.
(Reporting by David Milliken and Alistair Smout; editing by Sam Tabahriti and Kevin Liffey)
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