Yvette Cooper found her move to the Foreign Office in Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle “frustrating”, her husband Ed Balls has revealed.
It comes on the eve of her first visit to Kyiv in her new Cabinet role.
Cooper was replaced as Home Secretary by Shabana Mahmood and took over as Foreign Secretary from David Lammy as part of the Prime Minister’s major shake-up last week in the wake of Angela Rayner’s resignation.
Mr Balls, Ms Cooper’s husband, said that while she was “excited” about her new position, she was frustrated to have been shifted out of the Home Office just as she was making headway on tackling migration.
Speaking on the Political Currency podcast he co-hosts, Mr Balls said: “How could you not be excited by the idea of being the Foreign Secretary?
“But it’s obviously frustrating when you’ve spent years getting to the point where you had a plan to turn this round in terms of migration – and whether that’s around deportations or getting other departments to pull their weight in terms of housing asylum seekers, turning around the appeals system, getting the France deal in place, the Germany deal coming through, third country relations, which are in the pipeline – all to get to the point where you could actually really put the squeeze on.
“And suddenly to find that you have to have a new Home Secretary starting from scratch all over again, and you’ve gone to the Foreign Office, I mean, of course it’s frustrating.”
Mr Balls, a former Labour Cabinet minister, criticised Sir Keir’s reshuffle for making the government appear “chaotic”.
“We’ve seen a lot of reshuffles in recent years,” the politician-turned-broadcaster said.
“Keir Starmer said, you know, he’s going to put all of that chaos – Tory chaos – behind him. This is going to be a government of stability and delivery for the long-term.
“But this reshuffle, so fast into the government, does seem chaotic and it’s not what you would want to do in the first few days of your ‘phase two’ delivery period, because I’m not sure reshuffles make delivery easy.”
Mr Lammy had “spent four years building an array of foreign contacts around the world” only to be made Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, Mr Balls said.
Ms Cooper will use her first few days in her new job to travel to Kyiv, a move intended to signal the UK’s steadfast support for the war-torn nation.
Her trip on Friday comes after Russian drones violating Polish airspace during attacks on Ukraine were shot down by Poland and Nato this week.
It also follows Russia’s largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the war began, an assault that hit a key government building in Kyiv for the first time.
The new Foreign Secretary will visit the damaged building, known as the cabinet of ministers, as well as residential buildings destroyed by Moscow’s attacks, the Foreign Office said.
She announced £142 million in UK aid – £100 million to help civilians in Ukrainian frontline communities through repairs to water and heating systems, and £42 million to help protect the electricity transmission network and gas and power infrastructure.
Ms Cooper said: “I have chosen to visit Ukraine in my first few days as Foreign Secretary because Ukraine’s security is crucial to the UK’s security. I am clear that the UK’s support is unwavering and stronger than ever as we know the long-term security and stability threat that Russian aggression poses not just to Ukraine, but to the whole of Europe and to all of us here in the UK.
“Through our ongoing military support, lifesaving funding announced today, the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership and our ongoing leadership of the coalition of the willing, we will be by Ukraine’s side to achieve a just and lasting peace, and in friendship for years to come.
“Putin’s bombardment of Ukrainian civilians, his stalling and delaying in internationally-backed peace talks, and his blatant disregard for human life must end.”
