Andy Burnham Allies Describe Mean Girls Atmosphere Inside Prime Minister’s Top Team

Andy Burnham has faced criticism for what detractors call a “blokeish” fixation on pubs and football. Yet inside his Government, the balance of power tells a different story: senior women occupy some of the most influential posts, vying for access to the Prime Minister and helping to shape the direction of policy.

One long-time Burnham supporter said the dynamic had produced “a bit of a Mean Girls atmosphere” — invoking the 2004 Hollywood film about ruthless teenage cliques and social hierarchies.

At the centre of that comparison is Louise Haigh, cast by insiders as the Regina George figure of the operation. As First Secretary of State, she is widely regarded as the Deputy Prime Minister in everything but formal title.

Behind her are former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell, both of whom are said to have ended up with less senior Cabinet roles than they had sought. Ms Rayner returned to her previous brief as Housing Secretary, while Ms Powell was appointed Education Secretary.

The strength of the female presence around Mr Burnham is further underlined by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, who round out a striking line-up of women in top Government jobs.

One source said Ms Haigh had been central to the reshuffle, adding: “Be in no doubt, Louise played a huge role in that process.”

Adding another layer to the internal power structure is Antonia Romeo, the first woman ever to serve as Cabinet Secretary.

Within Civil Service circles, colleagues describe Ms Romeo as “strong-willed”. She has previously been investigated and cleared over bullying allegations, and there are already understood to be strains between her and Ms Haigh.

A Whitehall source said: ‘Haigh wants to be the only one who has Andy’s ear, and is now moving to block Antonia when she tries to circumvent her. She basically wants to kill anyone who gets in between her and Andy.’ 

Another source said: ‘We appear to have in the first female CS someone who doesn’t seem to like the women around her very much.’

Ms Haigh’s ascent – which has been accompanied by a ‘glow up’ makeover in which she ditched her trademark red hair – can be traced back to just four months into Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership when she was forced to resign over the revelation she had pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014.

She was enraged that she had been defenestrated despite informing No 10 about the false report of a stolen phone when she was appointed.

For Ms Haigh, revenge was a dish best served over the following 18 months.

In November, The Mail on Sunday reported how she had been overheard in an Italian restaurant in Covent Garden discussing how to remove Sir Keir. 

Ms Haigh denied plotting, but multiple sources said that she was using the Tribune group of Left-wing Labour MPs to machinate against the PM.

Then, on December 14, this newspaper splashed on its front page the exclusive revelation that Mr Burnham had struck a deal to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election to return to the Commons. 

He was blocked by No 10, but the first blow had been struck, and Mr Burnham’s and Ms Haigh’s destinies started to dovetail.

Ms Powell, a long-standing friend of Mr Burnham, had been widely tipped to become DPM after she voted against the ruling NEC’s block on Mr Burnham’s attempt to stand in Gorton and Denton. 

But tensions grew in the aftermath of Labour’s disastrous results in the May 7 local elections – the Burnham camp were infuriated by Ms Powell’s warning against a leadership challenge.

‘We do not do hostile takeovers in the Labour Party, it’s not what we’re about,’ she said.

‘Unhelpful’, was the verdict of a member of Mr Burnham’s inner-circle. ‘She seemed to be keeping her options open for a run herself.’

Many Labour insiders had assumed that Mr Burnham would re-align the post of DPM with the deputy leadership of the Labour Party, with both positions previously held by Ms Rayner.

However, the popular Ms Powell ended up in the education berth, as third choice behind Rachel Reeves and former Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

One Labour source claimed: ‘Lucy doesn’t want to be there. She thought she was going to be DPM.’ Her allies dispute that, saying she preferred to have her own department to being a titular No 2.

Ms Rayner’s star has also waned after months of speculation that she had formed a pact with Mr Burnham in advance of his coup.

As recently as March, he was encouraging the chatter by describing her in public as ‘Queen of the North’ – a direct reference to his own moniker of King of the North.

But Mr Burnham’s allies complained that darling of the Left Ms Rayner was ‘inscrutable’ during meetings to discuss how to seize power, and they ‘lost trust’ in her after a photographer was tipped off about a secret meeting between the pair in April.

The result was the return to housing rather than one of the Great Offices of State.

A source said: ‘Louise has played a blinder by making her ambitions clear from the start. Lucy and Angela in particular seemed to be hedging their bets and playing double games. 

It has led to a bit of Mean Girls paranoia in their camps about what Louise might have whispered in Andy’s ear.’

Ms Haigh’s ‘glow-up’ has coincided with the immaculate power-play. Francesca Cairns, a colour analysis expert, described her new hairstyle as ‘a warmer, less saturated auburn’ with sunglasses ‘adding a layer of deliberate authority’.

Ms Cairns said: ‘The wardrobe has followed the same logic, fewer competing hues, more flattering neutrals and soft structure, which reads as polished rather than performative.

‘I also think the change tracks the step-up in responsibility. First Secretary is a different level of visibility and expectation.

‘The earlier look was distinctive and memorable for a departmental secretary – this one projects calm competence and gravitas. It feels like a conscious recalibration towards being taken more seriously in the role.’

It was reported this weekend that Mr Burnham has been told by No 10 social media experts to be less ‘blokeish’ in his posts by cutting boorish references to football and the pub.

But according to a Labour source quoted by The Spectator magazine, Mr Burnham should instead be described as ‘Labour’s first female Prime Minister’ – because of his sheer number of female advisers, backers and senior ministers keen to push policy issues deemed to be particularly important to women, such as social care and family finances.

The most influential of those ‘advisers and backers’, of course, is his spouse Marie-France ‘Frankie’ van Heel – described as a ‘blunt wife’ because of her reaction to his announcement that he was going to run for leader: ‘What? Not again?’

A Burnham ally described their marriage to the MoS. ‘She definitely wears the trousers,’ they said. ‘She is the reason why he went on holiday last week despite his pressing workload.

‘She put her foot down and said that family time was sacrosanct. There was never any doubt that he would have to go.’

Last night a No 10 source strongly denied that there were any tensions between Ms Haigh and the Cabinet Secretary, saying: ‘This is simply not true.’