Angela Rayner arrives in Downing Street for what turned out to be her last Cabinet Meeting on Tuesday © Karl Black
Angela Rayner’s resignation has sent shockwaves through the Labour Government, ending her tenure as Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary just five days after Starmer’s ‘phase two’ relaunch. Rayner announced she was stepping down this afternoon following the result of an ethics probe over the underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 home in Hove. While the investigation concluded she acted ‘with integrity and with a dedicated and exemplary commitment to public service’, it determined she breached the ministerial code by failing to seek expert tax advice. Her departure leaves a vacuum at the heart of government, removing one of Labour’s most recognisable and authentic voices and presents the Prime Minister with an unappetising deputy party leader election contest. The timing is particularly damaging for Starmer, who had hoped to use Monday’s mini-reshuffle as a tightly managed reset, appointing Darren Jones as Chief Secretary to the PM and James Murray as Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Keir Starmer has spent the afternoon reshuffling his Cabinet (just what every public affairs professional wanted on a Friday afternoon). Read the slightly complicated game of musical chairs that’s taken place below, or click here to download our handy new organogram.
In key news, Rachel Reeves… hasn’t moved. After Darren Jones’ move to the new position of Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, James Murray was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and 2024 intake Dan Tomlinson appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.
Out: Angela Rayner, Ian Murray and Lucy Powell have all left Government. Unchanged: John Healey, Wes Streeting, Ed Miliband, Heidi Alexander, Bridget Phillipson, Lisa Nandy, Jo Stevens, Hilary Benn and Lord Hermer remain in their previous roles.
And now for the movers:
David Lammy’s becomes Deputy Prime Minister and the new Justice Secretary
Yvette Cooper replaces Lammy as Foreign Secretary
Shabana Mahmood replaces Cooper as Home Secretary
Peter Kyle replaces Jonathan Reynolds as Business and Trade Secretary
Liz Kendall replaces Kyle as Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary
Pat McFadden replaces Kendall as Work and Pensions Secretary
Darren Jones replaces McFadden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Steve Reed replaces Rayner as Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary
Emma Reynolds replaces Reed as Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary
Douglas Alexander replaces Ian Murray as Scottish Secretary
Alan Campbell replaces Lucy Powell as Leader of the House of Commons
Jonathan Reynolds replaces Campbell as Chief Whip
52.6% – the percentage of votes won by Angela Rayner MP when she was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party in 2020 (her runner up, Rosena Allin-Khan MP, received 26.1%)
7 – the number of Housing Secretaries there have been in the last 5 years as Steve Reed takes the role
92 – the age at which the oldest member of the royal family, the Duchess of Kent passed away, as confirmed by Buckingham Palace this afternoon
84.6% – the percentage of votes won by Zack Polanski AM to become the leader of the Green Party, beating Adrian Ramsey MP and Ellie Chowns MP
3pm – the time the Government’s emergency alert test will take place this Sunday
35,000 – the number of asylum seekers the Government have removed from the UK since taking Office last year
£2.9bn – the amount invested into British AI companies last year, meaning British AI companies now contribute £11.8bn to the economy
8,594 – the number of votes Reform UK received in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency in last year’s general election, as their former MP Nadine Dorries defected to Reform this week
26th November – the date of the upcoming Budget
The Chancellor announced that the Budget will take place on 26 November this year, as she confirmed the OBR has been asked to prepare an ‘economic and fiscal forecast’ for this date. In a video message, Reeves said “Britain’s economy isn’t broken. But I know it’s not working well enough for working people,” adding “we must bring inflation and borrowing costs down.” So only ~12 more weeks of speculation to go!
Reform UK kicked off their Party Conference in Birmingham, with leader Nigel Farage’s speech stating how a Reform Government would: stop the boats within two weeks, cut welfare, change the tax system to stop the richest people and highest taxpayers leaving, and “police the streets not the tweets.” He also predicted a General Election could take place in 2027; and announced Zia Yusuf as the Party’s new Head of Policy to lead a “Department for preparing for Government”… sounds like some peak efficiency there from Reform’s DOGE guy.
Zack Polanski was elected as the new leader of the Green Party, receiving a decisive 85% of the vote to beat Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsey’s bid for co-leadership. Ironically this means that despite the Greens’ best ever result in a general election, their leader won’t actually be sitting in the Commons. Chowns has now been selected by the Green Party MPs to be their leader in Parliament. Starmer was quick to welcome Polanski’s selection at PMQs, by pointing out his “very strange comments about women.” In other Green news, Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer were also elected as co-leaders of the Scottish Green Party.
DHSC launched a consultation on banning the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks to children under the age of 16 in England, which comes as their impact assessment showed the proposed ban could reduce childhood obesity rates by about 40,000 children and deliver health benefits worth £7.7bn through improved health outcomes. This marks another step in the Government’s plan to shift the NHS from treatment to prevention.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch gave a speech on North Sea oil as she travelled up to Aberdeen this week, where she announced “a future Conservative Government will give the North Sea Authority one clear mission: maximise extraction.” She also: confirmed the Conservatives will scrap the Net Zero mandate of the North Sea Transition Authority which requires operators to pass net zero tests before licences are granted; said the NSTA would be changed to the North Sea Authority, “because the North Sea is about much more than just transition”; highlighted the need to overhaul the planning system for the North Sea to end the ongoing “lawfare”; and announced “we will scrap the absurd Net Zero rig requirements.”
Also in Aberdeen, Energy Minister Michael Shanks delivered a speech on North Sea energy at the Offshore Europe Conference, in which he affirmed “this Government will back the North Sea, its workers and its industry.” He spoke about the importance of building a diverse energy system, and confirmed the Government’s response to its consultation on energy in the North Sea will be published soon, alongside “clear next steps on our licensing commitments.”
A £10bn export deal was signed with Norway to provide Type 26 frigates, supporting 4,000 jobs across the UK supply chain into the 2030s. The decision came ahead of a new UK-Norway defence agreement, signed later in the week by Defence Secretary John Healey and his Norwegian counterpart, Tore O. Sandvik.
Science Secretary Peter Kyle announced the publication of the Trusted third-party AI assurance roadmap, backed by a fund worth £11m which is due to open to applications in the spring; and unveiled the new £2.7m AI regulator capability fund to support five UK regulators – as he gave a speech at Mansion House this week. It comes as DSIT welcomed the record £2.8bn investment in British AI companies last year, who now contribute £11.8bn to the UK economy.
DWP announced a £338m investment in the Connect to Work programme to expand the scheme to over 85,000 people who are sick, disabled or face complex barriers to work in 15 areas across England. The scheme provides personalised help, including coaching from employment specialists and job matching services.
The GREAT FUTURES Summit was held in London, where Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds spoke with Saudia Arabia’s Minister of Commerce, and unveiled £360m of new joint investment to create 180 new jobs in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
The Commons returned from the long summer recess this week and promptly ripped up Monday’s order paper, cancelling two backbench business debates on regional transport inequality and devolution in Scotland, in order to accommodate three ministerial statements on asylum, the Middle East, and Ukraine. Angela Rayner faced MPs on Tuesday afternoon to see out the second reading of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, before returning to the frontbench for the last time on Wednesday to sit next to the Prime Minister during PMQs. Two opposition day debates on property taxes (in no way a coincidence given the big news of the week) and the hospitality sector took place on Wednesday; and the week culminated with the start of ping pong on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, as the Government rejected Lords amendments to water down the Bill.
Over on the red benches, with largely little drama (in comparison to what was going on across central lobby)… peers managed to get through (deep breath): the third reading of the Employment Rights Bill, one day of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill’s committee stage, one day of the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill committee stage, and two days of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill’s committee stage. It’s amazing what can be done when you leave the bear pit.
Reform UK enters party conference season with just 24% of Britons believing it would do a good job running the country, according to a recent YouGov poll. However, the findings weren’t entirely bleak for Nigel Farage’s party as 44% of respondents said Reform is doing the most to set the political agenda, up from 33% in May. By contrast, only 14% said the same of Labour, and just 3% pointed to the Conservatives. When it comes to leadership, voters remain divided. Some 43% would rather keep Keir Starmer in Downing Street, compared with 37% who favour Farage.
57% of Britons support the introduction of national ID cards, with convenience and preventing illegal immigration cited as the most common reasons. According to a new Ipsos poll, support is strongest among Conservative voters and those over 55. Interestingly, Reform UK voters were the least supportive of the policy, with 55% backing it, followed by 61% of Labour voters. Among those opposed, the leading concerns included fears that personal data could be used without permission (32%), sold to private companies (31%), or exposed in a security breach (28%).
The Resolution Foundation and UK in a Changing Europe teamed up in a new report looking at the main policy challenges facing the UK, and how politicians could respond. The report looks at various topics including the cost of living, housing, higher education, immigration, trade and growth and features insights from a range of contributors from organisations including the Resolution Foundation, King’s College London, the Health Foundation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and the LSE.
Childishness is not a new element of PMQs, but a reported prank which saw a phone planted near the Despatch Box rigged with ‘sex noises’ which were set to play when the Prime Minister was speaking might take the biscuit. Luckily for all, the phone was found during a sweep prior to Wednesday’s faceoff. The pranksters (most likely dim-witted staffers) are surely regretting their actions now, as parliamentary security have launched a major investigation into how the device was planted, the Met Police reportedly involved, and access to the Commons for non-MPs has been curtailed.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping channelled their inner Queen (replace with Tsar/Emperor as appropriate) with an unofficial rendition of Who Wants to Live Forever at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Beijing this week. Somehow, it was even worse than a leaked karaoke performance, when they were caught on a hot mic discussing how biotechnology and organ transplants could enable people to achieve immortality. And now for their next cover: Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears.
On the subject of karaoke, former opera singer turned Conservative MP turned Reform Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire Andrea Jenkyns made a memorable entrance at today’s party conference. Dressed in a sequined glam rock bodysuit she blessed/assaulted the audience’s ears, singing “I’m an insomniac” in an auditorium that looked bizarrely like a WWE stadium. Politics as performance eh.
