All the winners and losers as Andy Burnham’s announces his new look cabinet

Westminster fever hit boiling point as the new Prime Minister Andy Burnham picked his first cabinet.

There were some shock appointments, some winners and some notable absentees from Mr Burnham’s dream team as he swept away key figures from Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

As Starmer headed straight to the pub with Rachel Reeves, the new Prime Minister promised to provide early ‘breathing space’ for households struggling with the cost of living, vowed to end rough sleeping in the UK.

Speaking outside the door to No 10 Mr Burnham said he would deliver ‘a new political model and a new economic model’ for Britain.

Here is the team he has chosen to do it with:

John Healey – Chancellor

A stalwart of Labour’s frontbench, Mr Healey served in the Blair-Brown governments, as well in as the shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. He then became Sir Keir’s shadow defence secretary, and then defence secretary after the 2024 general election.

Mr Healey now finds himself leading the Treasury, a department which provoked his exit from Government in June. His shock resignation as defence secretary came after a row about increasing defence spending. That proved a consequential moment in Sir Keir’s downfall as premier.

A source in Mr Burnham’s new ministry said Mr Healey had been appointed because he is a trusted and experienced figure within Labour, who shares the same outlook as the new Prime Minister.

Ed Miliband – Foreign Secretary

Ed Miliband was tipped for Chancellor and arrived with Shabana Mahmood at the exact same time to keep all the politicos on their toes.

Dubbed ‘Red Ed’ by the tabloids during his time as Labour leader, and subject to embarrassing photos of him eating a bacon sandwich being published in the press in the run up to the 2015 general election, Mr Miliband returned to frontline politics following the Corbyn era and had served as energy secretary in Sir Keir’s government since Labour’s election win in 2024, spearheading the net zero agenda.

He now moves to the role of Foreign Secretary, effectively Britain’s top diplomat.

Mr Miliband is said to have been appointed the new Foreign Secretary because of his experience of international leadership and negotiating with other nations across the world during his time as energy secretary. Will he stand up to Donald Trump and his demand for North Sea oil?

Shabana Mahmood – Home Secretary

Ms Mahmood remains as Home Secretary under Mr Burnham. In that role, she has led the Government’s work on creating stricter migration controls. As Labour’s efforts to tackle smuggler gangs have borne fruit in reducing Channel crossings, calls from backbench Labour MPs to soften new migration curbs could prove an early flashpoint for Ms Mahmood and the new Prime Minister.

Oxford-educated former barrister Ms Mahmood served as justice secretary when Labour first won power, before her appointment as Home Secretary. She is one of the first Muslim women elected to the Commons, having won the seat of Birmingham Ladywood in 2010.

Louise Haigh – Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and First Secretary of State

Ms Haigh became a key figure in Mr Burnham’s plans to return to Westminster and enter Downing Street, and was dubbed part of a group of “northern power women” who had masterminded the campaign by the new Prime Minister when he won the Makerfield by-election.

She has criticised what she described as a boys’ club culture at the heart of Sir Keir’s No 10 operation, after she was forced to resign as transport secretary over a historic criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

Ms Haigh is expected to drive Mr Burnham’s priorities for Government across the Whitehall machine, including the devolution agenda and plans to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

Yvette Cooper – Health Secretary

Ms Cooper, who served as home secretary then foreign secretary in Sir Keir’s government, has been moved to the Cabinet post overseeing health and social care in what is considered by some Westminster watchers as a demotion from one of the four “great offices of state”.

She was viewed as a rising star under New Labour, and she served in the Blair and Brown governments alongside Mr Burnham, before being relegated to the backbenches under Jeremy Corbyn.

Ms Cooper has been trusted with overhauling the social care sector, an area which Mr Burnham has said will be one of his priorities as Prime Minister.

Pat McFadden – Work and Pensions Secretary

Veteran frontbencher Mr McFadden remains in his ministerial post overseeing welfare spending and the state pension. He was widely seen as loyal to Sir Keir, and was at times described as “the real deputy prime minister” in his time as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Mr McFadden, a long-time Labour man who was born in Glasgow to Irish-speaking parents from Donegal, played a central role in shaping Labour’s direction in the run-up to the election. Softly spoken and serious, much of his work has taken place behind the scenes, though he is frequently relied on to reinforce the party line with appearances on the morning broadcast rounds.

Angela Rayner – Housing Secretary

Once dubbed Labour’s Red Queen, Angela Rayner returns to the frontline of Government as Housing Secretary after resigning from the same role in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet, as well as her jobs as Labour’s deputy leader and deputy prime minister, over her tax affairs last year.

The Ashton-under-Lyne MP has since been cleared of any wrongdoing by HMRC.

She was spotted meeting with Mr Burnham in Greater Manchester earlier this year, in a sign she was willing to back his bid for No 10. A self-described socialist, Ms Rayner championed Labour’s workers rights package in her previous cabinet role.

Jonathan Reynolds – Business Secretary

Mr Reynolds returns to the role of Business Secretary, a role he held when Labour first came to power, before he was moved sideways to become the party’s chief whip. The role appears to have been significantly beefed up since he first held it, and now covers science and technology as well.

When Labour won the election in 2024, Mr Reynolds was at the forefront of Labour’s efforts to redraw its relationship with the City alongside Rachel Reeves. As chairman of Christians on the Left, Mr Reynolds has described his faith as hugely important to his politics. In 2013 he told the Commons he would vote for equal marriage ‘because I am a Christian, not in spite of it’.

Lucy Powell – Education Secretary

Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell held a number of positions in Sir Keir’s top team, and continues to be Labour’s deputy leader, an appointment prompted by Angela Rayner’s exit from frontline politics. She was the preferred choice of Labour members for that position, and won it over Starmer ally Bridget Phillipson.

Ms Powell was among the Labour MPs who were early to help Mr Burnham’s campaign to return to Westminster in the Makerfield by-election.

Anneliese Midgley – Chief Whip

Ms Midgley will be a member of the Cabinet as she takes up the role of Chief Whip, the Government’s chief enforcer in Parliament. The role may however been somewhat different under new Prime Minister Mr Burnham, who has spoken of his dislike for the whipping system used to ensure MPs vote with the Government.

Ms Midgley is seen as a close ally of Mr Burnham and was among the “northern power women” he paid tribute to when he won the Makerfield by-election. She accompanied him into the House of Commons when he was sworn in as an MP.

Bridget Phillipson – Women and Equalities minister

Ms Phillipson, a close ally of Sir Keir Starmer, has lost her job as education secretary, but remains as the Minister for Women and Equalities, and will attend Cabinet. In that role in Sir Keir’s government, Ms Phillipson has overseen widely-debated reforms to Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance on trans people.

Ms Phillipson came from a struggling single-parent family but says she was far from the worst off in her class. Her upbringing shaped her approach to the education brief she used to hold, in which she outlined Labour’s mission to smash the ‘class ceiling’ by removing barriers to opportunity for less advantaged children.

Lisa Nandy – Culture Secretary

Ms Nandy told reporters she was ‘very’ happy to continue with her job as Culture Secretary as she left Downing Street smiling on Monday evening.

Her new responsibility for digital, meanwhile suggested that the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) had been scrapped.

Wes Streeting has been appointed Defence Secretary, Alex Norris is the new Justice Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle is the new Environment Secretary, and Miatta Fahnbulleh has been appointed Energy Secretary.

In his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham, whose return to Westminster triggered Sir Keir’s resignation, acknowledged the turbulence in British politics which meant he was the seventh prime minister since 2016.

It was, he said, a time for ‘reflection and new resolution’ and ‘Britain needs to show the world that we can regain our stability once again’.

He acknowledged a disaffection among Britons with politics in general.

‘I know people at home are fed up with politics. I hear you and I want to be honest with you – we have not been good enough, and we need to be better. We will be.

‘We will make this moment a circuit breaker for Britain, bringing forward the biggest changes in the last 40 years – a new political model and a new economic model.’

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