Andy Burnham’s Labour leadership rival among those in the frame to head up Ministry of Defence, just weeks after Dan Jarvis was appointed as defense secretary.
LONDON — Dan Jarvis is expected to be removed as defense secretary when incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham chooses his top team on Monday — with former Labour leadership rival Wes Streeting under discussion as his replacement.
Three people with close ties to the Ministry of Defence, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said they had been told to prepare for Jarvis’ exit as secretary of state. He has served just six weeks in the job.
The former soldier was promoted after his predecessor, John Healey, quit in protest over what he deemed inadequate funding for the armed forces.
Jarvis helped deliver the long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP), which allocated extra money for the U.K.’s defenses after he took over at the MoD. But the plan remains reliant on the next government finding significant savings in order to deliver it.
In a speech on becoming leader, Burnham said he had not yet chosen his Cabinet, and a government official — not one of the figures cited above — said incumbent ministers had not been given any indication either way over whether they would remain in post.
However, if the new prime minister does opt to remove Jarvis, it would likely cause upset at the MoD after the recent change of leadership.
One Labour MP with a background in security said it was “difficult to think of anyone better qualified” than Jarvis for the job, and that another major upheaval was “not in the interest of the military at all.”
A second Labour MP connected to the sector said the move would not provide the “stability” needed at a crucial time.
The same MPs said Streeting had been put forward as a potential successor to Jarvis, after he was previously linked to the job of foreign secretary. MPs on the “soft left” of the party have been lobbying against the former health secretary being handed a policy-heavy domestic brief.
Streeting has made several interventions on defense spending since he resigned from Keir Starmer’s government, endorsing the idea of “war bonds” to raise money and arguing for the scrapping of outdated military programs.
He has, however, never held a foreign-facing brief, and would face skepticism from those who believe the ministry should ideally be led by a veteran.
A spokesperson for Burnham did not respond to a request for comment. Streeting’s team declined to comment.