Look who else has suddenly come round to Burnham's way of thinking... David Miliband gives sbacking devolution and electoral reform as manoeuvring for Foreign Secretary steps up

By CLAIRE ELLICOTT, WHITEHALL EDITOR Published: 20:30, 9 July 2026 | Updated: 20:35, 9 July 2026 David Miliband has given his backing to Andy Burnham as he voiced support for devolution and electoral reform in a comeback speech. As speculation mounts about who will be in the prospective prime minister's cabinet, the former Blair cabinet minister set out his views on foreign policy. In a speech on democracy, the former foreign secretary warned that the world faced the challenge of 'unchecked power, democratic backsliding and the erosion of the rule of law'. But he also backed the ideas of the former Manchester mayor who is set to become prime minister in less than a fortnight. In interesting timing, Mr Miliband, who has been tipped for a return to the Foreign Office, who lives in the US, travelled to London to make the keynote speech. However, Mr Burnham has been warned by cabinet ministers that he cannot have 'more Milibands than women in the top jobs.' Delivering the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Annual Memorial Lecture, Mr Miliband called for more devolution of power away from London. He said there was a need to 'take on the concentration of the UK's economic and political power in Westminster'.  David Miliband has fuelled rumours of a shock comeback as Andy Burnham prepares to take power within weeks 'The commitment last week by Andy Burnham that he intends to give meaningful power to those who know and serve their communities, to invest in those communities, suggests we are on the verge of big change, and it is long overdue,' he said. 'Devolving down to encourage levelling up will create countervailing power in Britain in a healthy way.' He also referred to his role as a local government minister who had seen the concentration of power in Westminster as a 'weakness of the British model'. One of Mr Burnham's main policy proposals has been for a 'No10 North' to move power out of London and into the regions. In his speech at the LSE last night, Mr Miliband also expressed concern that only 15per cent of MPs won 50per cent of the vote at the 2024 general election. He said he supported electoral reform, calling for an alternative vote system to ensure MPs had a greater mandate. His views on electoral reform are aligned with those of Mr Burnham who has said he would like to introduce proportional representation in Labour's next manifesto. He said 'massive inequalities of income and especially wealth' had corroded confidence in democracy around the world, with citizens seeing the system as 'rigged' against them. The difference in income in parts of the UK has been a major theme of Mr Burnham's political interventions in recent months. In his wide-ranging speech, Mr Miliband also backed trade unions, saying they were not only needed to check 'employer abuse' but could act as 'schools of citizenship'. He also defended the BBC and criticised aspects of life in the US, which could be taken as a slight against President Donald Trump – not an ideal position as foreign secretary. He warned that the 'lure of strongman solutions arises from frustration and grievance' as he said that voters were turning away from democracy. Calling for greater regulation of AI and a clampdown on disinformation online, he said: 'We need to 'stop the bots' not just 'stop the boats'.' Mr Miliband was previously said to be in line for the US ambassador role but was discounted after President Trump was elected because he was seen as too close to the Democrats. He is based in Washington where he has been president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee since 2013. He left the UK following a bitter battle with his brother Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary who is tipped to be Mr Burnham's chancellor, for the Labour leadership.