Who's in the cabinet?

Andy Burnham is the new prime minister, after winning the backing of 379 of Labour's 403 MPs as the best person to replace Sir Keir Starmer.

He has pledged to shift power away from Whitehall, introduce "greater public control" of the water and energy sectors and to build more council houses – while keeping Labour’s election pledge not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or National Insurance.

Born in Aintree in 1970, Burnham was inspired by the miners’ strike to join the Labour Party in his teens and first became an MP in 2001.

The former health secretary had twice failed to become party leader - losing to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 - and after leaving Parliament, served as Greater Manchester mayor. He returned as Makerfield MP in June and succeeded Sir Keir Starmer a month later.

A life-long Everton fan and talented sportsman, he was part of Labour's Demon Eyes FC football team when Tony Blair was PM, and regularly featured in the Labour MPs vs Lobby journalists match while in Parliament.

John Healey has returned to the cabinet as chancellor of the exchequer, less than two months after quitting as defence secretary.

In his resignation letter Healey was highly critical of the government's defence spending plans, saying Sir Keir Starmer had been "unable" and the Treasury was "unwilling to commit the resources the nation needs to defend the country".

It is a surprise appointment for the MP for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough in South Yorkshire, with many speculating the role would go to Ed Miliband or Shabana Mahmood.

Healey was parliamentary private secretary to Chancellor Gordon Brown from 1999 to 2001, before serving as adult skills, Treasury, local government and housing minister between 2001 and 2010.

He is well-respected on the international stage and has built links with key economic allies in Europe, the Middle East and the United States.

Louise Haigh has become chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, first secretary of state and Cabinet Office minister.

Haigh, one of Andy Burnham’s closest allies, will run the Cabinet Office, the department that supports the prime minister and co-ordinates the government’s policies to deliver its agenda.

After entering parliament as MP for Sheffield Heeley in 2015, Haigh was named the hardest-working new MP in 2016 due to the number of her Commons speeches and questions, and praised by then-Speaker John Bercow for her "terrier-like intensity".

In 2025, the former special constable and Unite union shop steward became the first person to resign from Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet as transport secretary after it emerged that she had admitted a fraud offence in 2013.

On the backbenches she emerged as a crucial power broker on Labour's "soft left", and was at the heart of the huge rebellion that scuppered the government's welfare cuts in 2025.

Ed Miliband is the new foreign secretary, moving from the energy and net zero brief he has held since Labour returned to power.

He had been touted as a possible chancellor, but opinion was divided between supporters who pointed to his experience in the Treasury, and opponents who distrusted his views, particularly on energy.

Since the election he has spoken out against those urging the government to drop its net zero ambitions and insisted the party's green power transition will help secure social justice and national security.

Miliband has been the MP for Doncaster North since 2005 but has been at the centre of Labour politics for even longer - working for Labour MPs before the 1997 election win and as a special adviser to Gordon Brown when he became chancellor.

He is best known as a former Labour leader - having beaten his brother David, among others, in the leadership contest that followed the party’s 2010 general election defeat - but has also co-hosted the Reasons to be Cheerful podcast since 2017.

Shabana Mahmood remains home secretary, the position she has held since September 2025.

Mahmood, who has a reputation among Labour MPs as a hardliner on immigration, is responsible for that brief in the role, along with national security and for policing in England and Wales.

Shortly after being appointed, she announced sweeping changes to the UK’s asylum system, brushing off criticism from some Labour MPs and describing the previous system as “out of control”.

A former national campaign co-ordinator for Labour, Mahmood oversaw the party's Batley & Spen by-election win in 2021 which some have credited with saving Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership following a defeat in Hartlepool months earlier.

The Birmingham Ladywood MP claims to be the first female Muslim MP - although she was elected in 2010 alongside Yasmin Qureshi and Rushanara Ali - because, she says, her count was the first completed on the night.

Yvette Cooper remains in cabinet but in a new role as health and social care secretary, having most recently served as foreign secretary in Sir Keir Starmer's government and home secretary before that.

She was first elected as an MP for Yorkshire seat of Pontefract and Castleford in 1997 and went to serve as the first female chief secretary to the Treasury, later becoming work and pensions secretary in the Labour government.

After the 2010 election defeat for Labour, she took on the role of shadow home secretary. She now represents Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley.

Among other firsts in her political career, the former journalist became the first minister to take maternity leave, and she was one half of the first married couple in the cabinet - alongside her husband, former education secretary and Strictly Come Dancing contestant, Ed Balls.

Pat McFadden remains work and pensions secretary, the role he has held since September 2025.

He took over the department months after the party was forced to U-turn on extensive changes designed to reduce the welfare bill.

As the party’s national campaign co-ordinator McFadden was one of the masterminds behind Labour’s historic 2024 election victory, constantly stressing the need for message discipline ahead of the election and warning activists and MPs alike to ignore the opinion polls.

A former adviser to Sir Tony Blair, the Glasgow-born MP has represented the Wolverhampton South East constituency since 2005, serving as a business minister under Gordon Brown and in several shadow ministerial roles since then.

McFadden has also held the post of chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, responsible for running the Cabinet Office - the department that supports the prime minister and co-ordinates the government’s policies to deliver its agenda.