Starmer names first cabinet after landslide win
Keir Starmer has appointed his cabinet after Labour's landslide election win, making Rachel Reeves the UK's first female chancellor.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is also among a record 11 women in the team of 25. In his first speech as prime minister at Downing Street on Friday Sir Keir promised to restore trust in politics with a ‘government of service’, reports BBC.
His new cabinet will meet for the first time on Saturday morning, with Sir Keir vowing to start Labour's ‘urgent’ work immediately. In a largely unchanged Labour frontbench line-up, David Lammy has become the foreign secretary.
Yvette Cooper, one of three members of the last Labour cabinet under Gordon Brown, is home secretary. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street after being appointed PM by the King at Buckingham Palace, Sir Keir pledged: "My government will serve you, politics can be a force for good.
Labour won 412 seats - giving the party a majority of 174 in the new House of Commons. The Conservatives were reduced to a record low for them of 121 MPs, a net fall of 251. The Liberal Democrats made 63 gains, giving them 71 seats. The SNP suffered a severe defeat, losing 38 seats to stand on nine with one constituency still to declare.
Reform UK won five seats, include leader Nigel Farage's in Clacton, with the Greens increasing their number of MPs from one to four. Plaid Cymru doubled its number of MPs from two to four. Before polling day, Sir Keir repeatedly refused to confirm the details of his top team. But within hours of becoming prime minister on Friday, his appointments came thick and fast - suggesting plans had been in place for a long time.
Alongside her role as Sir Keir's deputy, Ms Rayner will also take control of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. A significant majority of the cabinet were state educated - with only three attending private schools.
The other two veterans of the last Labour government are Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband, and Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn. Mr Lammy also served as a minister in the last Labour government alongside Pat McFadden, who takes over the Cabinet Office, and Defence Secretary John Healey.