close
close
You are Here
Starmer appoints two Blair and Brown figures as junior ministers
vefms

Starmer appoints two Blair and Brown figures as junior ministers

Image source, fake images

Sir Keir Starmer has given junior ministerial roles to two former ministers who served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

Former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is to join the House of Lords to become higher education minister, Downing Street has said.

While Douglas Alexander, who held a number of cabinet posts in the last Labour government, is now business minister after returning as an MP for the first time since losing his seat in 2015.

The new posts are part of a small number of new ministerial appointments made by the prime minister on his first full day in office.

Ellie Reeves, the sister of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, becomes a minister without portfolio.

Sir Keir has also appointed Ms Reeves, who served as co-chair of Labour’s election campaign, as Labour Party chair.

In a post on social media, Ms Reeves said she was “delighted” with her appointment.

Former South Yorkshire mayor and soldier Dan Jarvis joins the Home Office as a minister.

Jim McMahon and Matthew Pennycook, who have held roles in Sir Keir’s shadow government, become ministers at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

Mr Pennycook said his appointment was a “true honour”.

“Addressing the housing crisis and boosting economic growth is an integral part of national renewal,” he said.

Ms Smith, who is not an MP, will be given a life peerage to enable her to re-enter government.

She returns as Education Minister, a position she held 25 years ago under Tony Blair.

She held several ministerial posts before becoming the first female interior minister. She resigned in 2009 following a series of expense scandals.

The Standards Commissioner found that the woman had breached House of Commons rules by designating her sister’s London home as her main residence and claiming expenses for her home in Redditch.

Mrs Smith also admitted wrongly claiming expenses for two pornographic films watched by her husband while she was away.

Media reports revealed that she had also claimed a flat-screen TV and cushions for expenses.

She resigned, blaming family pressure and alleging gender bias in the scrutiny of her spending.

After losing her seat to the Conservative Party’s Karen Lumley at the 2010 election, Ms Smith competed on Strictly Come Dancing and co-hosted a political podcast with Conservative broadcaster Iain Dale.

She previously chaired University Hospitals Birmingham Trust and since 2021 has been Chair of Barts Health Trust in London, two of the largest NHS care providers.

After helping to coordinate Labour’s successful 2001 election campaign, Mr Alexander was appointed a junior minister in Mr Blair’s government, serving in a variety of roles before being appointed Transport Secretary and Scottish Secretary in 2006.

While an MP, he repaid more than £12,000 he had claimed from Parliament during the expenses scandal.

While serving as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Mr Alexander was defeated by the SNP’s Mhairi Black in the 2015 general election, reversing his 16,000-vote majority.

After leaving parliament, he joined Harvard University and New York University as a professor and became an advisor to U2 frontman Bono.

Mr Alexander chaired Unicef ​​UK but resigned in 2020 following harassment allegations of which he was later cleared.

They join several other former cabinet members from the last Labour government in Sir Keir’s new senior team, including Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband.

A Labour source also confirmed to the BBC that new Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been in talks with Alan Milburn about taking a role in government.

Mr Milburn was Mr Blair’s health secretary during the latter part of his first term.

Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Linkedin

Related Posts