Appointing Miliband as chancellor would be a mistake

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There are plenty of solid arguments for Ed Miliband’s outriders to make about why he should be the chancellor when, and of course if, Andy Burnham’s first cabinet is formed. Miliband has been one of Burnham’s most consistent backers, he is one of the most experienced ministers Labour has and he has shown he has the determination to drive through radical policies. There is one great risk, however: would appointing Miliband as chancellor trigger a market meltdown?

We don’t know much about what a Burnham government might look like. But one thing seems certain. The hapless Rachel Reeves will be dispatched to the backbenches. From Wes Streeting to Yvette Cooper to Pat McFadden or John Healey, a whole list of potential candidates are quietly positioning themselves for the job. But Miliband is the one that would really excite the Labour party faithful.

The pound has already started falling in anticipation of a change of prime minister

In fairness, it is possible to make a case for the current Energy Secretary. Cooper would do nothing more than competently manage decline; Streeting would get into fights with the unions. Meanwhile, neither MacFadden nor Healey has enough of a public profile or much panache. By contrast, Miliband is bold, experienced, clever and thoughtful. If Burnham’s talk of ending ‘40 years of neo-liberalism’ and ‘ending trickle-down economics’ amounts to anything more than a few vapid soft-left soundbites for the activists, then Miliband is probably the only person who could develop a serious alternative.