Andy Burnham Mulls Blairite Peerage Plans for Ed Balls and David Miliband

If Andy Burnham becomes Prime Minister on 20 July, insiders expect him to nominate former education secretary Ed Balls and former foreign secretary David Miliband to the House of Lords. Balls would likely serve in an advisory capacity because peers cannot hold senior Treasury posts, while Miliband could be appointed foreign secretary. The speculation emerged after a June 2024 report and follows the 9 July deadline for any challenger to Burnham’s leadership. Peerage nominations are expected to be announced within days of Burnham’s swearing-in.

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Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation opened an unopposed contest that Burnham is set to win. The former Gordon Brown cabinet minister has pledged to draw on a “broadest pool of talent,” reviving figures from the 2000s Labour government. Burnham, who served as chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown, has said he will assemble a team that reflects the party’s broad centre-ground experience.

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Re-elevating Balls and Miliband would give Burnham senior foreign-policy and economic expertise, bolstering the new government's credibility abroad. Both Balls and his wife, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, would occupy senior positions in the same administration, linking two prominent centrist figures.

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David Miliband, speaking at a Center for Global Development event, praised Burnham’s “openness and energy” and called the prospect “very attractive and positive,” while declining talks. A senior Labour source said no formal approach has been made to Balls, and another source noted they have not heard any definitive plan for his return.

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A minister asked whether Burnham “can’t find anyone who can help him from Parliament’s talent,” and a Labour MP quipped, “Talk about getting the 1997 band back together.” A Labour source added, “I haven’t heard anything about Ed coming back.”

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Sources differ on whether Balls would hold a ministerial portfolio or serve only in an advisory or commission role. No timetable for peerage creation has been disclosed, and Burnham’s team has not confirmed appointments.

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• “Ed could be in the Lords as a junior minister in the Treasury like [Lord] Spencer Livermore, but he couldn’t be chancellor or chief secretary because the Lords don’t handle money.” — Unnamed Labour minister

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• “Talk about getting the 1997 band back together.” — Labour MP

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• “There have been discussions about David returning and it’s an idea that is worth taking seriously if Andy is back in Parliament,” — Labour source

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• “I haven’t heard anything about Ed coming back,” — Labour source

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