David Lammy has been stripped of his role as foreign secretary, and given the job of justice secretary, along with the role of deputy PM.
Mr Lammy‘s move was one of the most momentous of Sir Keir Starmer‘s ministerial reshuffle on Friday afternoon, which saw a whole host of roles change hands, and two departments partially combined.
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The PM moved him away from one of the great offices of state, despite his apparently burgeoning ‘bromance’ with US vice president JD Vance. But Mr Lammy benefited from Angela Rayner‘s departure.
The deputy prime minister and housing secretary resigned from government on Friday morning, after it was found she had breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs. Sir Keir regretfully accepted her resignation, leaving her roles vacant.
Thus began the ministerial reshuffle, brought forward by several weeks as a result of Ms Rayner’s departure.
Mr Lammy has been given the role of deputy prime minister, and appeared cheery on Friday afternoon – strolling up Downing Street in the sunshine with a big smile on his face.
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His move from the Foreign Office to the Ministry of Justice then allowed Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, to take on Mr Lammy’s previous job. She has never served in any role involving foreign affairs before, bar a three-month stint as shadow foreign secretary in 2010.
Her pivot to foreign affairs then allowed the biggest promotion of them all, with then justice secretary and key Starmer ally, Shabana Mahmood, being appointed as home secretary.
This means that for the first time in British history, all three great offices of state, after the prime minister, are held by women.
With those roles rejigged, and Number 10 insisting from the start that Rachel Reeves was safe as chancellor, it was time to tinker with the rest of the cabinet.
It appears that while the reshuffle was carried out unexpectedly early, a lot of thought had gone into it.
Sir Keir began by creating a new ‘super ministry’, combining the skills remit of the Department for Education with the Department for Work and Pensions.
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Pat McFadden, on Friday morning the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (the highest ranking Cabinet Office minister), has been given responsibility for this new ministerial empire. It also means that Bridget Phillipson, who was and remains the education secretary, has had her responsibilities slimmed down.
Officially, Mr McFadden has become the work and pensions secretary. This meant the current occupant of that role, Liz Kendall, also needed to be reshuffled.
She has now been appointed as the science, innovation and technology secretary. Her predecessor in that role, Peter Kyle, in turn received a promotion to lead the Department of Business and Trade.
Mr Kyle made incorporating and using AI a key part of his first year in office, and had been seen to be doing well in the job. His promotion, though, has led to the current business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, being left without a department.
While he remains in the cabinet, his appointment to the job of chief whip is unlikely to be viewed as a promotion.
The reshuffle brought better news for Darren Jones, who was only promoted on Monday to the newly created role of chief secretary to the prime minister.
He got to keep his role, but was gifted Mr McFadden’s old job – chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – to add to his growing political portfolio.
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Read more:
Cabinet reshuffle: Who’s in and who’s out
What a moment for Shabana Mahmood
Cooper picking up the reins at a challenging time
Steve Reed, another long-time Starmer ally, benefitted alongside Mr Lammy from Ms Rayner’s departure. He has been given her former role of housing secretary, leaving behind the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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Also ending in a better position than they started off on Friday morning are Emma Reynolds, a Treasury minister who has now received Mr Reed’s old job, and trade minister Douglas Alexander, who has now become the Scotland secretary. Sir Alan Campbell, previously chief whip, has now become leader of the House of Commons.
On the other side of the spectrum, former leader of the Commons Lucy Powell, and ex-Scotland secretary Ian Murray, joined Ms Rayner in leaving the government. Both were sacked, and both made clear their desire not to lose their roles.
Ms Powell said it had been “an honour” to serve but warned that “the future of our democracy looks uncertain”, citing rising levels of “abuse, misrepresentation…. and the call for easy answers”.
Mr Murray also echoed this sentiment, stating that politics in the UK “is at a dangerous crossroads”. He called on MPs to bring “prosperity, hope and our communities together, rather than furthering division and despair”, and said he would support Sir Keir’s government from the backbenches.
