Andy Burnham’s decision to appoint James Purnell as his chief of staff, should he become prime minister, reunites two old friends and former Labour ministers who were key players in the famous Demon Eyes football team from the late 1990s.
Demon Eyes: A Team of New Labour Stars
The Demon Eyes team, named after a Conservative attack poster depicting Tony Blair with devilish red eyes, was formed in 1998 by New Labour advisers. Its members included Burnham, Purnell, former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, and former foreign secretary David Miliband. Many went on to hold high ministerial office, though most have since left Westminster for other careers.
The team played home matches in north London and was set up by Purnell and Tim Allan, who later became Keir Starmer’s director of communications. Early players also included journalists David Goodhart and Liam Halligan, as well as prominent New Labour figures like Blair’s speechwriter Philip Collins, Gordon Brown’s adviser Ed Richards, and Dan Corry, Brown’s head of policy. Neal Lawson, director of the leftwing group Compass and a Burnham ally, took over in goal from Goodhart.
Playing Styles and Team Dynamics
Patrick Hennessy, a former Labour adviser and senior director at Hanover Communications, described Burnham as “technically a good player, a fast attacker with good finishing.” Hennessy, who captained a rival team of political journalists, said Purnell was “a decent centre-back – he wasn’t the most physical, but he was very, very dogged.” He added, “The main thing about the team is it was very, very competitive. You knew when you were playing against them it was going to be a hard match – they were determined to win.”
One former teammate joked that their on-pitch positions mirrored their future roles: Purnell as a determined defender, Burnham as an attention-seeking attacker who enjoyed scoring goals.
Dressing Room Culture and Legacy
The team was known for its will to win, occasional blokeish repartee, and unusual dressing room conversations. “It is the only football team I’ve been in where the chat in the changing rooms was all about politics,” said one former player. Another described the team’s style as similar to “Gareth Southgate England or [Mikel] Arteta’s Arsenal – built around a solid defence.”
Tony Blair embraced football as a cultural sign of Britain’s growing soft power, though he was less immersed in it than younger colleagues. Keir Starmer, an Arsenal supporter, is perhaps the most committed football fan to become prime minister, but he has always preferred playing with a small group of non-political friends, unlike Burnham, who was a core Demon Eyes member.
Concerns About New Talent
As Burnham became a senior MP and Purnell worked at the BBC, a younger generation emerged, including current justice minister Jake Richards. However, some worry that Labour’s top echelons remain dominated by those who came through the Blairite system together, even playing on the same football team. “Thirty years on we are still talking about that one team,” said one former player. “You would have thought we might have moved on by now.”
