Prime Minister Keir Starmer appoints latest wave of Ministers to take on green policy briefs
Number 10 is putting the finishing touches to its new government, with the confirmation of a wave of appointments to junior Ministerial roles.
Yesterday afternoon the government announced a series of further appointments to key departments, including the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband is joined at DESNZ by Sarah Jones and Lord Hunt of Kings Heath as Ministers of State. Jones will work across DESNZ and the Department for Business and Trade, having previously served as Shadow Minister for Industry and Decarbonisation Shadow Business and Trade team. Lord Hunt returns to government having previously served as a Minister at Defra and the Department for Energy and Climate Change in the last Labour government.
Kerry McCarthy, who has previously served as Shadow Environment Secretary, Shadow Transport Minister, and Shadow Climate Minister, was also confirmed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at DESNZ.
While Miatta Fahnbulleh was also appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, having only been elected to Parliament for the first time as MP for Peckham last week. She previously worked as chief executive of the New Economics Foundation think tank, as well as in senior roles for the Leader of the Opposition, the Cabinet Office, and the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit.
Completing the DESNZ team, Michael Shanks was confirmed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State after being re-elected as MP for Rutherglen last week. He was first elected as MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West in a by-election last October and previously worked as a teacher and in the charity sector.
The appointments came on the same day as the new Labour government announced it had invited former Climate Change Committee chief executive Chris Stark to head up a new Mission Control for Clean Power, which will co-ordinate efforts to deliver on the government's ambitious target to decarbonise the power system by the end of the decade.
At Defra, Number 10 confirmed Secretary of State Steve Reed will be joined by Daniel Zeichner as Minister of State, while Emma Hardy and Baroness Hayman of Ullock were announced as Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State.
Zeichner transfers over from his role as Shadow Environment Minister and is expected to pick up the farming brief for the new government, while Hardy was previously Shadow Minister for Flooding, Oceans, and Coastal Communities.
Baroness Sue Hayman was previously an MP and was Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary between 2017 and 2019. She has also been Labour's Shadow Environment Spokesperson in the Lords since 2020.
The appointments continue Prime Minister Keir Starmer's approach of appointing Ministers with specialist expertise and experience to lead on specific briefs.
Number 10 is also finalising Ministerial appointments at other departments with green economy responsibilities.
At the Department for Business and Trade Secretary of State Jonathan Reynolds leads a team including Douglas Alexander, Gareth Thomas, and Justin Madders. Meanwhile, Baroness Jones is to serve as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at both the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, and Sarah Jones will report to both Reynolds and Miliband in her dual role with DESNZ.
Labour also confirmed yesterday it is to drop the term ‘levelling up' from the title of the Department for Housing and Communities, where Jim McMahon and Matthew Pennycook will report into Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State Angela Rayner.
And at the Department for Transport Louise Haigh will lead a team including Simon Lightwood, Lilian Greenwood, Mike Kane, and former head of Transport for London Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill.
The Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology will be led by Secretary of State Peter Kyle, who will be joined by Chris Bryant, Feryal Clark, Baroness Jones, and former Chief Scientist Sir Patrick Vallance.
Finally, Rachel Reeves' team at the Treasury includes Chief Secretary Darren Jones, Financial Secretary Lord Livermore, Exchequer Secretary James Murray, City Minister and Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq, and Parliamentary Secretary Emma Reynolds.
A handful of further appointments are expected, as Starmer looks to finalise his team and move forward quickly with delivering on Labour's manifesto pledges.
You can now sign up to attend the fifth annual Net Zero Festival, which will be hosted by BusinessGreen on October 22-23 at the Business Design Centre in London.
