Sir Keir Starmer has launched a major cabinet reshuffle after Angela Rayner’s resignation as housing secretary and deputy prime minister.
The prime minister is seeking to relaunch his government as it lags behind Reform UK in the polls and struggles to deliver on key promises.
Ms Rayner resigned after Sir Keir’s ethics advisor concluded she had breached the ministerial code by failing to pay the correct amount of stamp duty on the purchase of an £800,000 flat in Hove.
A wider cabinet reshuffle was expected later this autumn, but got underway following the deputy PM’s departure on Friday.
Below, The Independent looks at who is in and who is out of Sir Keir’s top team.
Out: Angela Rayner
Ms Rayner will need to be replaced at least as housing secretary, and Sir Keir could pick a new deputy prime minister following her departure.
She had come under mounting pressure to quit after avoiding a £40,000 stamp duty bill when purchasing the seaside property.
The prime minister’s independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus’s conclusion that she had breached the ministerial code by ignoring calls to seek specialist tax advice sealed her fate on Friday.
Runners and riders to take her post as housing secretary include Matthew Pennycook, who works under her in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and whom she praised in her resignation letter.
Out: Lucy Powell
Lucy Powell was sacked as leader of the House of Commons after Ms Rayner’s departure. Critics believe she had underperformed in the role, and she came under fire after dismissing the grooming gangs scandal as a “dog whistle” issue.
She leapt to Ms Rayner’s defence in the wake of the stamp duty scandal, claiming critics were only having a go at the deputy PM “because she is so bloody good at her job”.
“It has been an honour to serve in the first Labour government in 15 years,” Ms Powell said.
She highlighted her work to modernise the Commons, including tightening the rules on MPs’ second jobs.
“These are the changes a Labour government can and should be making,” she added.
Out: Ian Murray
Another minister sacked in the reshuffle was Scottish secretary Ian Murray, who for years was Labour’s only MP north of the border.
After a sweeping success in last summer’s general election, Labour has tens of MPs in Scotland, giving Sir Keir plenty of options to replace the outgoing Mr Murray.
Mr Murray said he was “hugely disappointed to be leaving government, with so much done and so much more to do”.
And he warned politics in the UK is at a “dangerous crossroads”, adding that it is “the responsibility of all of us in public life to make an argument for progressive change that brings prosperity, hope and our communities together”.
Moved: Shabana Mahmood
Shabana Mahmood, who is widely praised in government as having handled the justice brief expertly, is being moved to the tougher task of getting a grip in the Home Office.
Ms Mahmood will take over from Yvette Cooper with small boat crossings at a record high and tensions mounting over the use of asylum hotels to house asylum seekers.
Moved: Yvette Cooper
To make room for Ms Mahmood in the Home Office, Ms Cooper has been rotated into the Foreign Office.
She will represent the UK on the world stage amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza and growing concerns about the influence of China.
She has come under fire as home secretary for failing to take quick enough action to cut the number of small boats crossing the English Channel.
Moved: David Lammy
David Lammy was also part of the puzzle when it came to making way for Ms Mahmood at the Home Office. He has been moved from foreign secretary to justice secretary, filling the spot vacated by Ms Mahmood.
Mr Lammy will be expected to push through a series of reforms Labour has championed aimed at reducing the capacity crisis plaguing Britain’s prisons as well as reducing reoffending rates.
He is also being handed Ms Rayner’s deputy prime minister title, so will stand in for Sir Keir at events such as PMQs when the PM is away.
Moved: Pat McFadden
Pat McFadden, currently chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, is moving from the Cabinet Office to head up a new so-called “super ministry” covering the Department for Work and Pensions and part of the Department for Education (Dfe).
In a move aimed at cutting the spiralling welfare bill and boosting economic growth, his new department will cover the benefit system as well as the skills remit, currently part of DfE.
Moved: Steve Reed
Steve Reed has been picked to take Ms Rayner’s job as housing secretary.
Mr Reed is currently the environment secretary, has significant local government experience. He was the leader of Lambeth Council for more than six years before being elected to Parliament in 2012, a role which saw him intervene on council tax, social housing and children’s services.
He has impressed by standing firm on the farm tax and challenging water companies on sewage spills in his role at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Staying put: Rachel Reeves
Rachel Reeves is the one cabinet minister guaranteed safety so far in Sir Keir’s top team. The PM has linked his fate to that of the chancellor, despite criticism of her first Budget as having put the brakes on economic growth and sparked a wave of job losses.
The economy is central to Labour’s hopes of turning around its dire polling and staying in power at the next general election, and Ms Reeves’ November fiscal statement will be make or break for the government.
The reshuffle is ongoing, this piece will be updated with the latest developments.
