Who will be in Starmer's cabinet? and what's in the new PM's in-tray

5 July 2024, 10:09 | Updated: 5 July 2024, 10:29

Sir Keir Starmer will later today visit King Charles at Buckingham Palace where he will be appointed as the country's next prime minister and asked to form an administration.

He will then be driven to Downing Street to address the nation for the first time as prime minister at around 12.20pm, before announcing his cabinet.

In the run up to the election, Sir Keir remained tight lipped about who would be part of his cabinet but did confirm that deputy leader Angela Rayner will be his Deputy Prime Minister.

However, it's not clear whether Ms Rayner, who currently holds the housing brief, will take on a senior role within the cabinet.

The other names are expected to be largely similar to Labour's shadow cabinet.

That would see Rachel Reeves become Britain’s first female Chancellor following her re-election in Leeds West and Pudsey.

Yvette Cooper is expected to become the next Home Secretary while it is thought West Streeting and Ed Miliband will become the Health Secretary and Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero respectively.

Bridget Phillipson, a rising star in the Labour party who was the first MP confirmed on July 4 in Sunderland South, looks set to become the Education Secretary.

And Shabana Mahmood, MP in Birmingham Ladywood, is expected to become the Justice Secretary.

The biggest question mark is who will become the next Foreign Secretary, with many suggesting the post could go to David Lammy or even returning former cabinet minister Douglas Alexander.

Meanwhile Sir Keir will have to find replacements for his shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth and shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire who lost their seats to an independent and the Greens respectively.

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Sir Keir Starmer is expected to hit the ground running after seeing the King today.

His first job will be to write the four "letters of last resort". These are four letters written to the commanders of Britain's nuclear submarines in the event of a deadly attack.

The new Prime Minister will then focus on a series of tricky issues drawn up by his chief of staff Sue Gray.

These include the prisons crisis, a budget, public sector pay, university fees and staving off the collapse of Britain's biggest water company, Thames Water.

Meanwhile junior doctors in England are awaiting a call from the new government after officials promised to instigate discussions on "day one".

Sir Keir has been urged to resolve the long-running dispute as a "priority" after it emerged that tens of thousands of appointments were postponed as a result of the latest strike.

NHS England said that 67,034 appointments, procedures and operations were postponed as a result of the latest round of industrial action by junior doctors.

It said that 23,001 staff were absent from work due to strikes at the peak of the action.