Sir Keir Starmer has wasted no time in appointing his new cabinet, with the majority moving over from their Shadow roles, with just one surprise – and that’s the Culture Secretary.
Ashton-under-Lyne MP, Angela Rayner is the Deputy Prime Minister, she will also be the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Hailing from the other side of the Pennines, Rachel Reeves, who represents Leeds West and Pudsey, has become the country’s first female Chancellor. Earlier today, she told the BBC that it would be a “challenge” as “there’s not a huge amount of money.”
She added that she would be looking to unlock private-sector investment to cover the shortfall.
It is the honour of my life to have been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.
— Rachel Reeves (@RachelReevesMP) July 5, 2024
Economic growth was the Labour Party’s mission. It is now a national mission.
Let’s get to work. pic.twitter.com/PchJFePDJa
As expected, Peter Kyle has been named Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary and Stalybridge and Hyde MP, Jonathan Reynolds, is Business and Trade Secretary. You can read more about them here.
Jonathan Reynolds MP @jreynoldsMP has been appointed Secretary of State for Business and Trade and President of the Board of Trade @biztradegovuk. pic.twitter.com/0Z0nnW1m2s
— UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) July 5, 2024
There were few surprises in today’s Cabinet appointments, but the one which was forced upon the new Prime Minister was the Culture Secretary role. It had been expected that Thangam Debbonaire would get the job, but she lost her seat last night to the Green Party. Perhaps that explained why it was one of the last jobs to be announced, with Wigan MP, Lisa Nandy taking the role.
Born in Manchester, Nandy studied politics at Newcastle University. She was first elected as Wigan MP in 2010. She’s held several jobs in the Shadow Cabinet, including as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell when she was Shadow Olympics Minister. More recently she’s been Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary and Shadow International Development Minister.
She’s often been spoken about as a future Labour leader and during her political career she’s been involved in saving Wigan Athletic – something which led her to question football club ownership. She also called for the Labour HQ to move outside of the capital.
On broadcasting, during the Labour leadership contest in 2020, she stated that the BBC should be directly owned by the people who pay for it – to boost accountability.
She said it should be “mutualised” – like John Lewis.
At the same time, she also said that rather than just moving the headquarters of the BBC and Channel 4 out of London, but commissioning power should move from the capital too.
“…so what gets made and what gets said is not determined by a small group of men behind a desk in Westminster and Whitehall.”
She’s also been outspoken on football ownership, having been involved in the battle to save Wigan Athletic.
Her husband is a public relations consultant.
