Britain's likely next prime minister, Andy Burnham, has made his pick for the highly influential role of chief of staff: a pro-Israel lobbyist who until recently led a firm representing arms companies, private water firms and tech giants.

Britain’s likely next prime minister, Andy Burnham, has made his pick for the highly influential role of chief of staff: a pro-Israel lobbyist who until recently led a firm representing arms companies, private water firms and tech giants.

James Purnell has stepped down as CEO of Flint Global to accept the appointment to Burnham’s team.  ​

Flint does not publish a client list, but its website says it represents firms in the so-called defence sector, and EU transparency records show Google, Microsoft, Apple, BP and Uber among its clients.

Another client is Thames Water, the private utility that has received record-breaking fines for polluting British rivers with raw sewage. Purnell’s appointment therefore raises doubts about Burnham’s previous assertion that Thames Water should be nationalised.

Flint has also advised the mining firm Glencore, which has been accused of corruption and severe human rights abuses in Colombia. The company is alleged to have backed paramilitaries who committed a massacre to drive people from their land to enable mine expansion.

Like Burnham, Purnell voted for the invasion of Iraq and against investigations into it. He was a member of Tony Blair’s cabinet and chaired the pro-Zionist lobby group Labour Friends of Israel between 2002 and 2004. Burnham joined the group in 2015.

“It seems it’s out with the old and in with the old,” Green party leader Zack Polanski told openDemocracy. “What is it about this Labour government that is so keen on bringing in corporate lobbyists into the heart of Downing Street?”

He added: “This is starting to feel like a bit of a Blair and Starmer tribute act, with Labour Together’s Josh Simons also expected to have a senior role.”

​Labour Together, which Simons led between 2022 and 2024, was a key vehicle in getting Keir Starmer elected. It has been accused of smearing journalists critical of the Starmer project.

Polanski said more transparency around Flint Global’s clients was vital if Purnell was going to take a senior role in government.

“So there can be no suspicion that James Purnell – a tireless campaigner for welfare cuts – is putting the interests of his clients above those of the people he’s supposed to serve, a full list of Flint Global’s clients must be published.”

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