Rachel Reeves has warned Andy Burnham he needs to have a proper plan for government when he enters Downing Street in just over a week’s time.
In what is likely to be her last interview as chancellor, she appeared to concede her hopes of staying in the role were over and told the PM-in-waiting “governing is hard in Britain”.
During an appearance on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg programme, she said: “It is important that when Andy walks through that door, that he has a worked through plan, because governing is hard in Britain, and lots of lots of challenges and shocks will come his way.
“What is really important is that him and his team are really clear about what they want to achieve. As those shocks come along, he needs to stay laser focused on those things that have always motivated him, have always driven him, and are the reason why he wants to lead our great country.”
Ms Reeves was one of hundreds of Labour MPs who nominated Mr Burnham to replace Sir Keir Starmer earlier this week and she said she wanted his time in office to be a success.
But her use of the phrase “his team” will be widely seen as an acknowledgment that her call a fortnight ago to stay in post has fallen on deaf ears.
In the interview, a defiant Ms Reeves also refused to say her controversial decision to strip the winter fuel allowance from millions of pensioners had been a mistake and admitted her crying in the Commons was her toughest moment in the job.
She also defended Mr Burnham, saying that claims he had been preparing for life in Downing Street for at least a year were “perfectly reasonable”.
His close ally, the former cabinet minister Louise Haigh told a BBC podcast this week that Mr Burnham had been thinking and planning about a bid to become prime minister for “at least a year”, a remark that has inflamed tensions within Labour.
Asked how she felt about close colleagues having plotted against her for so long, Ms Reeves told the BBC: “I think it is perfectly reasonable for people to have ambition, and Andy has never shied away from the fact that he wanted at some point to lead the Labour Party.”
She also backed his devolution agenda, saying “having more decision makers, both officials and ministers, based in the north of England and in different parts of the country, would be a good thing for policy making”.
She insisted Mr Burnham will inherit a “much stronger economy” because of her actions but acknowledged the public was “impatient for change”.
The shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride hit out at her record in office.
“She was somebody who spoke about growth, growth, growth, but we’ve seen very anaemic growth since she’s been in,” he told the BBC.
Ms Reeves made the “wrong choices” on taxing business and borrowing, he said.
“And if you do those things, you destroy growth, you destroy businesses, you have increased unemployment, highest level for five years, massive youth unemployment, and you have a low growth overextended economy that’s very fragile.
“That is what she has left,” Sir Mel said.
Mr Burnham is expected to become the new prime minister on Monday, July 20, having so far secured the backing of 322 Labour MPs.
