ANDY Burnham has upended expectations by appointing former defence secretary John Healey as Chancellor.
He passed up the two front-runners, Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood, in favour of the former Cabinet minister who quit over defence spending.
Healey's appointment will be seen as an indication that he will get military spending to the level acceptable to the Rawmarsh and Conisbrough MP, who resigned dramatically in June as he accused the Treasury that he now leads of being "unwilling" to commit to what he thought was needed.
Ahead of the release of the UK Government's long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), Healey said the plan fell "well short" of what was necessary.
Burnham has ordered a clear-out of Keir Starmer loyalists from the Cabinet, including big beasts such as Rachel Reeves, David Lammy and Steve Reed.
Reeves was reportedly offered the defence position but is said to have turned it down.
Miliband and Mahmood had been seen as the likely candidates to replace Reeves, whose departure from the Treasury had been expected.
Healey's appointment may suggest that defence spending will hit 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, as he had argued in Government.
In his resignation letter to Starmer last month, Healey said the plan he was presented with on Monday moved too slowly, with defence spending rising to 2.68% in 2030 after hitting 2.6% next year.
He added that without a DIP that “meets the moment” he was “forced to make decisions that would reduce the readiness of our forces and increase the risk to personnel on operations, and could make our country less safe”.
The now-Chancellor added: "This new era for defence required further investment through the Defence Investment Plan. The excellent and extensive cross-government work that completed in January – overseen by you, me and the Chancellor – confirmed the scale of the challenge and the rising demands on defence.
"Since then, you have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats."
Among his first tasks in Burnham's new government will be working out how to fund new cost of living support measures to be announced on Tuesday, a major council house building programme and the Prime Minister's inaugural pledge to end rough sleeping.
Healey has served in the Treasury before, having previously held the roles of economic secretary and financial secretary during Tony Blair's tenure as prime minister.
