What do we know about Keir Starmer’s ministers?

Keir Starmer has had a busy first week as prime minister. He has been sworn into parliament with other MPs, visited the four nations of the United Kingdom, and met world leaders at the NATO summit. He has also appointed more than 100 ministers to his government, and in doing so he sent clear signals about how he wants his government to run.

Starmer kept his top team virtually intact from opposition

The vast majority of Starmer’s shadow cabinet continued with their portfolios into government. Aside from some minimal necessary changes to replace Thangam Debbonaire, who lost her seat, the main message was stability. With the exception of Lisa Nandy, all of Starmer’s secretaries of state have been shadowing their new government post for at least 10 months – and those ministers leading on his priority missions have done their briefs since November 2021, if not longer.

This was a sensible decision, and marks a break from the transitions in 1997 and 2010. The new cabinet will be able to bring into government the knowledge of and relationships in their policy area that they have developed while in opposition. And the civil service will be able to draw on access talks to plan for their new secretary of state’s priorities and how to implement them quickly – this preparation will have helped the government make early announcements on planning reform.

Keeping his cabinet steady means Starmer marks some milestones for representation. According to the Sutton Trust, 92% of cabinet ministers were educated at comprehensive schools, ⁴ ‘Sutton Trust Analysis of Labour Cabinet’, The Sutton Trust, 6 July 2024, www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion/all-news-opinion/sutton-trust-analysis-of-labour-cabinet/  meaning the most senior level of government is more representative of the country than ever before. Starmer also has more women in his cabinet than any of his predecessors and his appointment of Rachel Reeves makes her the first woman to be chancellor.

Returning ministers will be able to hit the ground running

Keir Starmer has prioritised experience when making changes to his junior ministerial ranks, with six former ministers brought back into government despite not having served on Starmer’s opposition frontbench. This includes new peers like Jacqui Smith, was previously home secretary, and returning MP Douglas Alexander, former international development secretary, who joins the business department. 

In addition, the new prime minister has brought in former special advisers, like Kirsty McNeill at the Scotland Office and Emma Reynolds at the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions – both of whom have had spells working in No 10. This knowledge of Whitehall will prove useful: these new ministers may not have had the opportunity to prepare in opposition, but they understand how government works. 

In total, 22 members of Starmer’s new government – one-fifth of all ministers – have previous ministerial experience, including eight members of the new cabinet. This exceeds the 16 former ministers who served in David Cameron’s first government. After 14 years in opposition, and with fewer than one in ten Labour MPs having ever even sat under a Labour government, this is an impressive tally to hit. 

Experience of government may help these new ministers hit the ground running. Whitehall can be difficult to navigate at the best of times so prior knowledge of how to get the most out of the civil service and run a ministerial team effectively will be valuable skills. Indeed, Jacqui Smith told the Institute for Government’s Ministers Reflect series of the difficulties she faced transitioning into government when she was first appointed: her shock at the speed with which decisions needed to be taken, the volume of information she had to process, and the lack of control over her own time.

But both the government and the party have changed in the decade and a half that Labour has been out of power. There will be new challenges to grapple with, like the changed shape of departments, and different ways of working in government, like the use of WhatsApp. For those who have been out of parliament, like Alexander and Smith, there will be new relationships to build with party colleagues (not least the prime minister), new political dynamics to navigate and new stakeholders to manage.

While experienced ministers have much to offer the government, they will face their own challenges as the party emerges from the long years of opposition.

Starmer has also focused on subject expertise

As well as bringing back ministers who served in the last Labour government, the prime minister has appointed new ministers who have expertise in particular fields. The first non-cabinet appointments announced were Patrick Vallance and James Timpson, appointed as science and prisons ministers respectively.

Starmer has appointed two select committee chairs from the previous parliament, Diana Johnson and Stephen Timms, as mid-ranking ministers in the departments they used to scrutinise, the Home Office and DWP. And new MPs including Georgia Gould, who used ‘missions’ while leading Camden Council, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, a former civil servant and think tank boss, have been appointed as junior ministers too (this is the first time in decades that new MPs have been made ministers immediately after being elected). Getting used to both parliament and government at the same time will be difficult – and their immediate promotion may cause disquiet among their new colleagues in the parliamentary party. 

While these ministers know their subject matter, learning how government works and how they can ensure the system is delivering on their priorities is still a steep learning curve. Vallance of course has more understanding of government but will be getting used to the intricacies of the House of Lords.

As well as new expert ministers, the government has appointed various experts to non-ministerial roles: Chris Stark, former head of the Committee on Climate Change, will run the government’s decarbonisation mission; Sir Kevan Collins, a former teacher, local council manager and head of the Education Endowment Foundation, has been appointed as a non-executive director at the Department for Education. These and other expert appointments bring subject knowledge into the heart of government.

To bring in these subject experts and experienced former ministers, Starmer has had to demote 20 MPs from his shadow team to the backbenches. While the election victory should mean the prime minister has few difficulties in maintaining loyalty over the coming weeks, as the parliament goes on the promise of a ministerial job may become a more valuable tool in party management. There will inevitably be changes to the ministerial ranks, because of disagreement, scandal, poor performance or personal circumstance.

Whenever he decides to next shake up his team, Keir Starmer will need to think carefully about how to keep people onside, manage talent, reward ministers who invest in their skills and development, and be unafraid to demote those who don’t meet the standards he expects.