Burnham appoints cabinet, Labour MPs take key roles in new government

John Healey became Andy Burnham’s first cabinet appointment as chancellor, setting the tone for a government the new prime minister wants to present as both competent and disruptive. Burnham took office after Sir Keir Starmer resigned nearly two years after Labour won power in July 2024, and the scale of the leadership reset is sharpened by the fact that Burnham is now the UK’s fifth prime minister in four years and the seventh in 10.

The first nomination tally released by Labour on 9 July gave Burnham the backing of 322 Labour MPs, a parliamentary base strong enough to put his own people into the top jobs without needing to lean outside the party. That matters because Burnham has promised a “new path” and a “circuit breaker” moment in government, and the cabinet choices will show whether he is rewarding loyal MPs, preserving some Starmer-era continuity, or drawing a sharper line on the economy and public services.

Burnham’s own background points in two directions at once. Harvard’s regional-growth project says he served as MP for Leigh for 16 years, was mayor of Greater Manchester from 2017, and held ministerial posts as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2007 to 2008, Culture Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Health Secretary from 2009 to 2010. That mix of Westminster experience and northern political identity is central to the way his first 100 days are being read, especially after he said he wanted to take power out of the centre and expand his office to Manchester, with plans for a new “No 10 North” in the city.

The early cabinet picture also lands against a government already shaken by turnover. In the earlier Starmer reshuffle after Angela Rayner’s resignation, Angela Eagle and Diana Johnson were moved out of the Home Office, underlining how much churn Burnham inherited before he had even finished assembling his own team. BBC reporting has also said Burnham was expected to replace Rachel Reeves as chancellor if he became prime minister, so Healey’s appointment is a clear sign that the Treasury will be treated as a political anchor in the new administration, even as Burnham pushes a broader agenda of regional devolution and power transfer away from London.