Andy Burnham has been urged to keep his top pick to run a No 10 operation away from decisions on Thames Water’s future – because of the candidate’s lobbying links to the troubled utility company.
James Purnell resigned as chief executive of Flint Global – a City advisory firm whose clients include members of the water industry – on Wednesday, and is expected to join Burnham’s team if the MP becomes prime minister.
But the Liberal Democrats are demanding that Purnell be recused from any potential decisions on Thames Water, arguing that someone previously paid to represent the company’s interests cannot help shape the policy that decides its fate.
Flint’s website says it advises “regulated water companies and major institutional investors”, and the firm is understood to have advised a group of Thames Water’s bondholders as the company sought to agree a rescue deal.
The call comes at a critical moment for Thames Water, the country’s largest water company, which serves about 15 million people and is struggling under debts of around £15bn.
