Back on the pitch: how Burnham’s chief of staff pick reunites late-90s Labour football team
Key takeaways
- Photograph: PA Images/Alamy View image in fullscreen‘Very, very competitive.’ Andy Burnham plays football for the Labour party parliamentary team against the press lobby in 2011.
- Kiran Stacey Policy editorWed 24 Jun 2026 19.35 BSTLast modified on Wed 24 Jun 2026 19.48 BSTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe most powerful football team in the country is getting back together.
- Many of its players would reach the heights of ministerial office, though in the intervening years most have left Westminster politics for other careers.
Why this matters: a developing story that could shape the day's news cycle.
Photograph: PA Images/Alamy View image in fullscreen‘Very, very competitive.’ Andy Burnham plays football for the Labour party parliamentary team against the press lobby in 2011. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy Andy Burnham Back on the pitch: how Burnham’s chief of staff pick reunites late-90s Labour football team Some worry choosing James Purnell, former Demon Eyes teammate, would show Labour struggling for new talent
Kiran Stacey Policy editorWed 24 Jun 2026 19.35 BSTLast modified on Wed 24 Jun 2026 19.48 BSTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleThe 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.