Former Labour culture secretary and BBC radio boss James Purnell is set to be Andy Burnham’s chief of staff, as the likely next UK Prime Ministe
Former Labour culture secretary and BBC radio boss James Purnell is set to be Andy Burnham’s chief of staff, as the likely next UK Prime Minister finalises his closest team.
Purnell was culture secretary from 2007-2008 in Gordon Brown’s government, before resigning in 2009, when he unsuccessfully called for Brown to step down.
He went on to join the BBC as director of strategy from 2013-2016 and director of radio and education from 2016-2020.
In 2024, he become chief executive of UK international advisory business Flint and last night he sent a note to its staff indicating he is likely to leave to take up a role with Burnham.
Burnham himself was also culture secretary under Gordon Brown from January 2008–June 2009, when he replaced Purnell in the role.
In 2022, Purnell proposed replacing the BBC licence fee with a household levy and enabling BBC Studios to acquire Channel 4. The household levy idea is also favoured by the likes of Pact and Banijay in their recent contributions to the charter renewal debate.
The former Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham, has been sworn in as MP for Makerfield and is widely tipped to replace Keir Starmer next month.
A version of this story first appeared on Screen’s sister site, Broadcast.
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