Powell Says Burnham Will End No 10 Boys Club Culture
Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell said Andy Burnham will change the “boys club” culture of factional briefings in Downing Street, describing the current culture as “unpleasant” and saying No 10 must become “more meritocratic”. Her intervention landed alongside a letter from female Labour MPs urging Burnham to give half of all government posts to women if he becomes Prime Minister this month.
The demands are the first organised attempt to shape the composition of a Burnham government rather than merely its leader — and they interact directly with the chancellor question, where the leading names in circulation are men and Washington has already been briefing against one of them. Powell’s critique of the briefing culture doubles as a verdict on the McSweeney-era Downing Street whose own architect conceded this week that Labour never prepared properly for power. Cabinet formation now carries two simultaneous tests: gender balance and geographic balance, with the chancellor expected to split time between London and the north. Watch the first appointments — they will be read against the fifty-per-cent demand.