Andy Burnham one step closer to becoming Prime Minister as Darren Jones endorses him

Yesterday Mr Jones, who is the Prime Minister’s chief secretary, was reported to be considering standing for leadership to avoid a Burnham coronation.

However, this morning he told Sky News: “Andy Burnham is going to be the next Prime Minister.”

He said he had a “reassuring conversation” with Mr Burnham on economic policy, and then suggested a full leadership election would be a bad idea.

When asked if he would stand, Mr Jones said: “I’m not, and look, I’m flattered by the support from colleagues, whether MPs or other important stakeholders in the party, but look, it’s not something that I’m going to do.”

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He added: “My last conversation with Andy Burnham was to say, ‘look, MPs are asking me to stand. I’m not going to but they’re asking me to stand for a reason, and that’s because they want you to set out more about your economic policy’.”

The other MP speculated to stand against Mr Burnham is former defence minister Al Carns. He has yet to make a move.

Mr Jones also appeared to warn Mr Burnham against making Energy Secretary Ed Miliband his chancellor.

The BBC is reporting that Rachel Reeves will not be kept on as chancellor of the exchequer if Mr Burnham becomes Prime Minister.

The Financial Times suggests Mr Burnham would still offer Ms Reeves a junior cabinet position.

There are a number of names in the mix to replace her, including former health secretary Wes Streeting (who many thought would stand against Mr Burnham but is now backing him instead), Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden (who held various roles in the shadow Treasury), Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper (who was chief secretary to the Treasury under Gordon Brown) and Mr Miliband.

When asked what he thought about Mr Miliband as chancellor, Mr Jones said: “I’m not going to get into personalities.”

However, he added: “I think the next chancellor needs to be able to have a clear view about the political economy and understand how the Treasury works.

“I think they need to have an important relationship with the Prime Minister, because, quite frankly, in many circumstances the chancellor in the Treasury is more powerful than the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

“So, you have to have someone that’s going to enable the delivery of the Prime Minister’s priorities and not try to control the Prime Minister, and that relationship is really critical.

“You also need a chancellor that can reassure the markets, reassure the trade unions and reassure the parliamentary Labour Party, and by extension the public.”

When asked if Mr Miliband “falls short” of his tests, Mr Jones said: “I will let you mark those tests, but those are the tests I think need to be met.”

Sir Keir Starmer faces prime minister’s questions at midday in the House of Commons. This is the first time he will undertake PMQs since announcing his resignation on Monday morning.