Purnell preceded Burnham as Britain’s culture secretary under Tony Blair, but left parliament in 2010 after launching a failed attempt to topple Blair’s successor Gordon Brown the previous year.
He joined the BBC as its director of strategy in 2013 before joining the lobbying firm Flint Global in 2024 as its chief executive. His financial interests in Flint will likely need assessing under standard conflict-of-interest rules.
Purnell is one of Burnham’s longest-standing personal allies in Westminster, and was instrumental in his bid to become an MP aged 31 in 2001.
Purnell suggested that Burnham — then a special adviser — speak to Blair’s Political Secretary Sally Morgan about the possibility of running for a seat.
In his 2024 book “Head North,” Burnham described Purnell as “one of the clearest political thinkers I have ever met” and thanked him “for believing in me and seeing things others didn’t.”
Burnham is expected to be the only viable candidate for the Labour leadership in a contest triggered by Keir Starmer’s Monday announcement that he would resign.