Burnham brings members of Socialist Campaign Group into government

Olivia Blake, Mary Kelly Foy and Steve Witherden. Photograph: House of Commons View image in fullscreen Olivia Blake, Mary Kelly Foy and Steve Witherden. Photograph: House of Commons Burnham brings members of Socialist Campaign Group into government Appointment of three ministerial aides is first time members of Labour’s most leftwing faction have held government positions Andy Burnham has appointed three new ministerial aides from Labour’s most leftwing faction, the first time members of the Socialist Campaign Group have been part of the government. The new chief whip, Anneliese Midgley, has also promised MPs that the government will beef up the role of ministerial aides – known as parliamentary private secretaries (PPSs) – who traditionally go under the radar, allowing them to do more media appearances, take on parliamentary roles and contribute more directly to policy direction. Burnham has said he wanted to end the Labour factionalism that divided the party under both Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer – and would seek to make appointments from the party’s left and centrist wings. Though Burnham has returned several soft left ministers to key positions in the cabinet – such as Louise Haigh, Lucy Powell and Angela Rayner – there were no ministerial appointments from the party’s most leftwing caucus, the Socialist Campaign Group, which was the group affiliated with Corbyn. But three of Burnham’s new parliamentary private secretaries will now hail from that socialist grouping – the Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake will be the PPS for local government, City of Durham’s Mary Kelly Foy at housing and Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr’s Steve Witherden at energy. PPS is the most junior role that can be awarded and is often a training ground for promising new MPs who manage the liaison between the government and backbenchers. Cabinet ministers are not always given a say over which MPs become their PPS – but Midgley said all the appointments this time had been done in consultation with cabinet ministers. Speaking to the Guardian during the Makerfield byelection campaign, Burnham said he wanted to build a broad church frontbench . “I do think the Labour movement has to draw on all parts of it when we’re in government. I remember Tony Blair’s most difficult days. Dennis Skinner would come out and rally the troops. I think we need to get back to that. I’m not a factional person. “I’ve always been a Labour politician, that’s about unifying people, trying to be positive and working together. That’s my approach to politics. I think politics needs less division and less factionalism these days.” In her letter to MPs announcing the new PPS appointments, Midgley said the prime minister intended to “build, relentlessly, a genuine culture of one Labour team”. “Our aim has been to assemble a diverse and talented group of PPSs, bringing together a broad range of experience, expertise and perspectives to support ministers and help deliver the prime minister’s agenda.” She sa