British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer brought in a new deputy and foreign and interior ministers on Friday in a sweeping reshuffle intended to restore his authority after the resignation of his deputy, Angela Rayner.
Starmer moved foreign minister David Lammy to become deputy prime minister and replaced him with interior minister Yvette Cooper. She was in turn replaced by justice secretary Shabana Mahmood. All are loyal, trusted hands.
After reshaping his Downing Street team last week to bolster his economic advice, a ministerial reshuffle had been expected. Rayner’s departure meant it was much deeper than widely predicted, forcing Starmer to draw a line under more than a week of distracting speculation over her tax affairs.
Starmer could do little to protect Rayner after Britain’s independent adviser ruled that she had breached the ministerial code by failing to pay the correct tax.
“Angela is a ‘big beast’ and hard to replace,” said one Labour lawmaker, adding that the three new appointments were “sound” if not overly exciting.
While Lammy has been given the position of deputy prime minister, he has also been forced to hand over the much sought after role of foreign secretary and replace Mahmood at justice.
Cooper is one of Labour’s most senior figures after serving under former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Her appointment will be seen as a promotion of sorts after overseeing the government’s often criticised policy to tackle illegal migration.
Mahmood, 44, is also seen as a “safe pair of hands” within the Labour party, a no-nonsense politician who has not been scared to take bold action while running the justice system.
Loyalty is seen as vital by Starmer, who has suffered the most ministerial resignations – outside government reshuffles – of any prime minister early in their tenure in almost 50 years.
“There is a sense at the moment that they don’t know what they are doing and what they stand for,” Chris Hopkins, political research director at polling firm Savanta, told Reuters.
Rayner, 45, was the eighth, and the most senior, ministerial departure from Starmer’s team, and the most damaging yet after the British leader offered her his support when she was first accused of avoiding £40,000 (€46,104) in tax.
Rayner apologised to Starmer in her resignation letter. “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice,” she said.
She also stepped down as a minister and as deputy party leader, a position for which Lammy will now be in pole position.
The independent adviser on ministerial standards ruled Rayner had broken the ministerial code – rules to ensure the conduct of politicians meet the standards of public service – because she failed to heed a warning within legal advice which she said she had relied on to seek expert advice on her complicated financial situation.
Rayner’s resignation has put more pressure on Starmer, with Labour trailing Nigel Farage’s far right Reform UK in the polls.
Starmer faces difficult state spending and tax choices as he seeks to repair the party’s image after they also came under fire for accepting expensive items including clothing and concert tickets from donors, before they were forced to water down cuts to the welfare budget.
On the first day of Reform’s party conference in Birmingham, Farage brought forward his speech by three hours to address Rayner’s resignation.
He said the Labour government was in “deep crisis” and the next election may take place in 2027, implying that Labour, which has a big majority and does not need to call an election until 2029, may find itself unable to govern.
“Despite all the promises that this would be a new, different type of politics, is as bad, if not worse, than the one that went before,” he told the audience to loud applause.
Rayner had registered a new home in the southern English seaside resort of Hove as her primary residence, after she sold her share of her family home in northern England to a trust that was set up for one of her sons, who has lifelong disabilities.
Rayner said she had believed she would not have to pay the higher rate of tax charged when buying a second home. But after media reports drew attention to the fact she may have avoided £40,000, she took further legal advice and said she had made a mistake and would pay the additional tax.
