Andy Burnham received a furious call from the now ex-Chancellor last September.
In a frantic attempt to protect her crumbling economic credibility, a panicked Ms Reeves demanded the ‘King of the North’ retract radical comments which had made national headlines, in which he demanded Britain stop being “in hock to the bond markets”. “My phone’s not stopped ringing!” a terrified Ms Reeves reportedly shrieked down the line. Mr Burnham hit back: “Rachel, I simply don’t believe you.” The blistering clash set in motion a nine-month feud that ultimately ended in a Downing Street bloodbath following Sir Keir Starmer’s downfall last week.
Insiders revealed that a desperate Ms Reeves went to extreme lengths to cling to her dream job as Mr Burnham prepared to return to Westminster, The Mail on Sunday reported.
In a forlorn attempt to appease hard-Left populists, she lobbied supermarkets to cap food prices and pushed for rent freezes. Just hours after missing Sir Keir’s resignation speech, she was spotted applauding and taking selfies with Mr Burnham. She even hastily promised regional leaders control over national tax shares in a bid to prove her “Burnham-ite” credentials.
Despite her frantic lobbying, Ms Reeves was dismissed by the new Prime Minister and replaced by John Healey. To add insult to injury, she was offered a humiliating demotion to Education – a role she promptly rejected. The position was instead given to Manchester Central MP and close Burnham ally Lucy Powell, who is set to divide her time between London and the Prime Minister’s new “No 10 North” hub in Manchester, alongside Angela Rayner.
Instead, she was pictured drowning her sorrows alongside Sir Keir at a pub in Kentish Town, with onlookers claiming the ousted Prime Minister and Chancellor were laughing “like demented hyenas” as they sang karaoke on their final night in power.
