In her first 48 hours as energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh was met by protesters from Fossil Free London outside her new offices, dressed as firefighters holding placards reading: "We're already putting out fires, don't start new ones."
Background and appointment
The MP for Peckham – a radical economist outspoken about the climate crisis – is a surprising choice for those who believe speculation that Andy Burnham wants to approve new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Fahnbulleh's predecessor and intellectual ally, Ed Miliband, may be relieved to have avoided the decision on whether to approve new drilling at the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields, which he previously described as "climate vandalism".
Jackdaw and Rosebank are not covered by the ban on new North Sea drilling licences because their applications were already underway when Labour took office. People close to Fahnbulleh believe she has the skills to challenge claims that drilling for more fossil fuels will bring UK energy resilience.
Expert views
"She is a hugely impressive person, she is an economist and has obviously risen up quickly through the ranks to become secretary of state," said one source. "She will have a really good grip of a lot of the different issues."
Tessa Khan, executive director of campaign group Uplift, said: "The reality is that the science is very clear. Burning the reserves in existing oil and gasfields will blow the global carbon budget and breach the 1.5C climate limit the government has committed to."
Continuation of Miliband era
Fahnbulleh's appointment is a continuation of the Miliband era, which drew rightwing attacks for its mission to decarbonise the UK's power sector by 2030. From 2017 to the end of 2023, she led the New Economics Foundation (NEF), which coined the phrase "Green new deal" for policies tackling the 2008 financial crisis, climate breakdown and soaring energy prices.
In a joint 2021 report with Friends of the Earth, NEF called for an end to new North Sea drilling, cancellation of future licensing rounds, revocation of undeveloped licences, and rejection of development consent applications. Imogen Dow, energy lead for Friends of the Earth, said: "She must hold the line against harmful fossil fuel expansion – including the highly contentious Jackdaw and Rosebank fields – make cheap, clean energy available to all and build on Ed Miliband's efforts to scale up our renewable power capacity."
Rapid rise
Fahnbulleh becomes the only MP from the 2024 intake to be given a full cabinet position. Born in Liberia in 1979, she came to Britain aged six with her parents as asylum seekers, settling in Tunbridge Wells. She studied PPE at Oxford, then an MA and PhD in economic development at the London School of Economics.
She was a former adviser to Miliband before becoming an MP, first joining government as his deputy in DESNZ, then as a minister at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Fahnbulleh is a key policy brain in the Burnham cabinet, championing bottom-up economic growth in local communities.
Laura Clarke, CEO of ClientEarth, said: "I think she is an excellent appointment. She has real expertise in both energy and the economics of it. And she absolutely understands the economic imperative of transitioning to a green economy as well as the energy security and social imperatives."
Fahnbulleh will face accusations from the right of being a net zero zealot and lobbying from parts of her own party and some trade unions to open up new North Sea drilling. However, she was the first minister to resign after Labour's disastrous local election results in May, telling Keir Starmer in her resignation letter: "We have not acted with the vision, pace and ambition our mandate for change demands of us."
