Briefing wars: how Labour ministers tried, and failed, to get into Burnham’s cabinet

‘We did not see this coming’: John Healey, who was until recently the defence secretary under Keir Starmer, has been made chancellor. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Reuters

For weeks, as ministers jostled, lobbied and positioned themselves for big jobs in an Andy Burnham government, the incoming prime minister remained sphinx-like. He told an interviewer on Monday that he had a black box containing his ministerial picks and major policy announcements, adding that even as he prepared to enter Downing Street: “The black box is still sealed.”

And so, when John Healey was appointed chancellor on Monday after intense briefing from allies of Ed Miliband, Shabana Mahmood and Rachel Reeves, it blindsided even those at the top of the Labour party.