Andy Burnham’s pledge to unite Labour branded ‘dead on arrival’ amid mounting mayhem over who will serve in his Cabinet

Andy Burnham’s promise to unite Labor was branded ‘dead on arrival’ last night, amid growing turmoil over who will serve in his cabinet.

At the center of the chaos is the divisive figure of Ed Miliband, whose hopes of becoming the next Chancellor appeared dashed last week following briefings that Mr Burnham planned to hand the job to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

But Ms Mahmood has now been accused by Burnham’s allies of trying to ‘introduce herself’. In his coronation speech on Friday, Mr Burnham vowed to end factionalism and the ‘insidious’ briefing culture in Westminster, saying: ‘We cannot defeat Britain’s new Right if we are busy infighting and being pulled in different directions.’

But stiff resistance to Mr Miliband’s proposed appointment has already served to poison relations. And a source said: ‘There is a lot of anger at Shabana and her team over the Treasury briefing. Andy and James [Purnell, the new No 10 chief of staff] They were very angry.

‘That’s why in his Friday speech he included lines about not making any decisions while sitting there. They felt this was a clear attempt to persuade him to appoint him.’

A second source added: ‘Shabana tried to convince Andy and James she wasn’t behind the briefings. He claimed that he was in the safe room of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for four hours while the briefings were held. But no one believed him. ‘It is well known among Home Office staff that he hates that room.’

Burnham’s allies also claim the new Northern Secretary could even rank ahead of the Chancellor in the Cabinet pecking order; This is something the powerful Treasury will likely resist.

To add further chaos, Sir Keir Starmer’s remaining supporters in the House of Commons are lying in wait to ambush his successor. His allies were said to be angered by Mr Burnham’s claim on Friday that he ‘supported every Labor leader in my life’ and played no part in Sir Keir’s ouster.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood accused by Burnham allies of trying to ‘put herself into the Chancellor’s job’

A senior MP said last night it was ‘a blatant lie and Keir’s people will be furious about it’. He added: ‘Andy may be the King of North and South now but Starmer loyalists will be lying in wait for him.

‘Hopes of ending the civil conflict were dead on arrival.’

There are also tensions within Whitehall over Liz Kendall’s plans to create the new No 10 North by abolishing the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), transferring officials to the new North department and transferring responsibilities to the Department for Enterprise.

Amid all this jostling for the position, Labor Party sources claim Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds called current Business Secretary Peter Kyle and asked for ‘access talks’ about his plans because he had been promised the job.

This has raised concerns about DSIT’s social media ban and disruption to its work on artificial intelligence, with one source saying: ‘I know that [Burnham] He wants to take Britain back to the 1970s, but trying to pretend the internet didn’t exist would be going a bit too far.’

Housing Minister Steve Reed, a Sir Keir loyalist, is expected to leave the Government along with Attorney-General Lord Hermer and ill-fated Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister David Lammy.