Lammy named Deputy PM and Cooper moves to Foreign Office as Rayner resignation triggers major Cabinet reshuffle

Ms Rayner quit as Deputy Prime Minister, Housing Secretary and deputy leader of the Labour Party on Friday following a sleaze probe sparked by allegations of tax evasion.

The Prime Minister used her decision to quit to instigate a major shake-up of his top team in order to reclaim the political narrative.

David Lammy was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and moved into a new role as Justice Secretary, after serving as Britain’s top diplomat – the Foreign Secretary – over the last year.

Read more: Cooper, Lammy and Mahmood given new jobs in major Cabinet reshuffle

Read more: 'Britain deserves better': MPs react as Angela Rayner resigns

Shabana Mahmood, formerly the justice secretary, is the new Home Secretary, while Yvette Cooper has moved from her brief at the Home Office to take over Mr Lammy’s former job as Foreign Secretary.

With Rachel Reeves remaining in post as Chancellor, the appointment of Ms Mahmood and Ms Cooper to their new roles means that for the first time in history, the three so-called “great offices of state” are all filled by women.

Elsewhere, Pat McFadden, formerly a senior Cabinet Office minister, is set to take over a new “super ministry” comprised of the Department for Work and Pensions and the skills remit of the Department for Education.

Steve Reed has taken over Ms Rayner’s brief as Housing Secretary, leaving behind his role as Environment Secretary.

Darren Jones, a Labour rising star who was only days ago appointed to the new position of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, also takes over Mr McFadden’s old Cabinet Office job: the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Elsewhere, Peter Kyle has been appointed Business Secretary, while Jonathan Reynolds has been moved from that post to become the Government Chief Whip, replacing Sir Alan Campbell, who is the new Leader of the House of Commons.

Lucy Powell, the former Commons leader, was sacked, as was former Scotland secretary Ian Murray, now replaced by Douglas Alexander, who was until now a trade minister.

Liz Kendall, formerly the work and pensions secretary, takes over Peter Kyle’s old job as Science Secretary.

The Cabinet reshuffle was rounded off with Emma Reynolds’ appointment as Environment Secretary.

Writing on X, Mr Lammy said: "It is the honour of my life to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary by Keir Starmer.

"Ever since I was a boy growing up in Tottenham, I’ve been determined to help make this country fairer, safer and better off."

Mr Lammy also praised Ms Rayner for the "tremendous job" she did in government.

Lisa Nandy, who has faced months of briefing against her, remains as the Culture Secretary, and Ed Miliband also stays on as Energy Secretary.

Downing Street sources insist the reshuffle leaves the Government refreshed and reinvigorated.

The Government has been given a new “sense of purpose” by the shake-up, a source said.

However, troubled times are undoubtedly ahead for Sir Keir, with an internal election to replace Ms Rayner as Labour’s deputy party leader on the way.

The contest could see the divide between different factions of Labour – and their positions on Sir Keir’s track record in No 10 – brought into the public eye.

Left wing Labour MP Richard Burgon has already cautioned against the race to replace the deputy leader – a figure intended to be a bridge with the party grassroots – becoming a “stitch up”.

Ms Rayner resigned as deputy PM, housing secretary and deputy Labour leader after Sir Keir’s ethics adviser said she failed to “heed the caution” contained within legal advice she received when buying an £800,000 property in Hove.

The outgoing deputy prime minister admitted she had underpaid stamp duty on the flat, and referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser.

In a letter published on Friday, Sir Laurie said he believed Ms Rayner had acted in “good faith”, but that “the responsibility of any taxpayer for reporting their tax returns and settling their liabilities rests ultimately with themselves”.

Ms Rayner told the Prime Minister in a letter on Friday that “I deeply regret my decision to not seek additional specialist tax advice” and said she took “full responsibility for this error”.

In his response, Sir Keir said Ms Rayner would “remain a major figure in our party” and “continue to fight for the causes you care so passionately about”.

The major upset to the Government comes just days after Sir Keir instigated a smaller reshuffle, and made new back office appointments with a view to begin what he billed as “phase two” of his administration, focused on delivery.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “Phase Two of Starmer’s Government didn’t even last three days. He was too weak to fire the deputy prime minister, even after he was told she broke the ministerial code, and now he’s shuffling deckchairs around on his sinking Government.

“The Labour Party is now engaged in a civil war for its deputy leadership. All of which will be an enormous distraction from the problems facing Britain, with the cost of borrowing reaching its highest point in decades, and inflation and unemployment rising.”

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey meanwhile cautioned Labour, warning that the reshuffle showed it was “learning the wrong lessons from the calamity Conservatives before them”.

“Until Keir Starmer is ready to grab the bull by the horns and confront the problems our country really faces, it makes little difference who sits where around the Cabinet table,” he added.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage brought forward a keynote speech at his party’s conference in Birmingham, and claimed the Government is “deep in crisis” and “not fit to govern”.

Reform’s Zia Yusuf has told LBC that Angela Rayner is guilty of “hypocrisy” after “hounding out” politicians over their own tax affairs.

Mr Yusuf told Natasha Clark: "I think it's really important that politicians play by the rules. That's the key thing.

"And if you look at Angela Rayner, she by her own admission, has said that she has underpaid tax. It's difficult to have sympathy when she has personally hounded out of office many, many politicians on the basis of this exact thing.

"So we talk about hypocrisy. That's exactly what it is".