Will Red Ed be named as Burnham’s Chancellor? New PM to unveil new-look Labour Cabinet this afternoon amid squabble over top job

Andy Burnham will unveil the top jobs in his new-look Labour Cabinet today amid a furious party row over who should be Chancellor.

With Rachel Reeves almost certain to be turfed out of No11, Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood are said to be vying to take over running the economy.

The Labour Left is still clamouring for Energy Secretary Mr Miliband to be made Chancellor, despite alarm from businesses and moderates. 

Markets have been calmer following speculation that Ms Mahmood, the Home Secretary under Sir Keir Starmer, will get the role instead, but any surprises could prompt a panicky response.

Meanwhile, the fates of big beasts such as Angela Rayner, Wes Streeting and Yvette Cooper are due to be decided this afternoon, with a procession of big-hitters expected to brave the cameras as they walk up Downing Street to No10.

Green energy tycoon Dale Vince, who is one of Labour’s biggest donors, warned Mr Burnham against appointing Ed Miliband as his Chancellor.

‘I think it would be a mistake for a number of reasons,’ the 64-year-old told Sky News, after he was invited to Downing Street to hear Mr Burnham’s first speech as Prime Minister.

‘I think his spending decisions in DESNZ (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) have been poor – no value for money at all.

Markets have been calmer following speculation that Ms Mahmood, the Home Secretary under Sir Keir Starmer , will get the role instead, but any surprises could prompt a panicky response

‘Tens of billions of pounds committed to projects that won’t even move the dial on carbon, let alone our economy.’

Mr Vince also cautioned that Mr Miliband ‘would be a lightning rod for Right-wing criticism’ if he took charge of the Treasury.

‘I think he could do better,’ he added, when asked about Mr Burnham’s potentially picking Mr Miliband as Chancell

This morning former Labour minister Lord Hutton urged the new PM to choose a pro-business chancellor to maintain market confidence.

‘We really do need a complete reboot on the economic growth plan. I think that’s going to be a real first order sort of issue for the new prime minister and the chancellor,’ the peer told Times Radio.

Briefings against Mr Miliband have included warnings he would be a ‘threat to Britain’ in No11. 

‘They haven’t come from my team and I’m appalled at those briefings,’ Mr Burnham said last week, branding them ‘appalling’.

The centre-left Mainstream grouping of Labour MPs has called for him to appoint a ‘progressive chancellor’.

In an apparent reference to Mr Miliband, it urged the incoming prime minister to pick ‘someone who understands the threat that climate breakdown poses to people and planet and who has the courage to rebuild our state’s productive capacity’.

However, Mr Miliband was seen as the least market-friendly candidate in a poll by Bloomberg, while he has also clashed with unions over North Sea oil jobs that could be affected by the push for green power he champions. 

One veteran Labour MP on the Left of the party told the Daily Mail: ‘I don’t think Miliband will get No 11. He would be too big a risk.’ 

Ms Mahmood is unpopular with the party Left because of hardline immigration reforms, and a move would allow Mr Burnham to shake things up.