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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Kiran Stacey Policy editor

Back on the pitch: how Burnham’s chief of staff pick reunites late-90s Labour football team

James Purnell Andy Burnham Football Tony Blair Sir Keir Starmer David Miliband Ed Balls Gordon Brown Tim Allan Arsenal
Andy Burnham playing football against a member of the press lobby.
‘Very, very competitive.’ Andy Burnham plays football for the Labour party parliamentary team against the press lobby in 2011. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy

The most powerful football team in the country is getting back together.

Andy Burnham’s decision to appoint James Purnell as his chief of staff should he become prime minister will reunite not only two old friends and former Labour ministers but two of the linchpins of the famous Demon Eyes team set up in the late 1990s.

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