Senior Labour figures on the left of the party are reportedly pressing Andy Burnham to appoint Ed Miliband as Chancellor, setting up a factional clash as hardline MPs simultaneously try to block a rival plan to install Shabana Mahmood in the role. The dispute reflects a wider power struggle within Labour over the direction of economic policy as Burnham moves into a position to shape the top team at No 11 Downing Street.

The row comes as Keir Starmer prepares to leave No 10, with the article noting he has also handed peerages to London Mayor Sadiq Khan and 15 other Labour figures in the days before his departure. Beyond the headline claims about Miliband and Mahmood, the underlying report text was not available, so further detail on the timing, the identities of the "hardliner MPs" involved, or the precise stage of the appointment process cannot be confirmed.