Andy Burnham reshuffles Cabinet, sacking Starmer allies in major shake-up

Andy Burnham is a man in a hurry. Over a whirlwind two days, he purged his Cabinet of Keir Starmer's allies and replaced them with several eye-catching appointments, in between calls with world leaders and a flurry of announcements. As he gathered his newly-minted top team in No10's Cabinet room, he said it was "a second chance at a first impression". What he really meant was this could be Labour's last chance to win back fed-up voters - and they need to get on with it. The football-mad PM told his Cabinet that he was proud to see them "going out into the tunnel alongside him and on to the pitch as one team", according to No10. Who he's picked for his starting eleven tells us quite a bit about Burnham as a PM - and what he's planning to do with power.

Clear-out of Starmerites

A clear-out of the Starmerites had been anticipated but the scale of it sent shockwaves through Westminster. Some wags branded it the "night of the long eyelashes" as the PM sacked 11 top ministers, including Steve Reed, David Lammy, Darren Jones, Peter Kyle and Liz Kendall. Rachel Reeves fought hard to stay on as Chancellor but she was too closely tied to the Starmer project and its most totemic failure - the cut to the winter fuel allowance. It is understood that she declined the offer of another big Cabinet job. Starmer retired to a pub in Kentish Town, where he was joined by allies, including Reeves, for a farewell bash as their seats at the Cabinet table were filled. Questions have been raised about the danger of alienating so many top ministers - but it was a risk Burnham was clearly willing to take to draw a line under the old era.

John Healey named Chancellor

After weeks of hysteria over who he would choose as his Chancellor, Burnham stunned Westminster by handing control of the nation's purse strings to John Healey. Ed Miliband, who was initially seen as a favourite, was made Foreign Secretary, while Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood kept her role, despite being widely tipped to enter No11 in recent days. Healey's appointment as Chancellor was a surprise to many but perhaps it shouldn't have been. The well-liked Labour veteran served in Gordon Brown's Treasury, and is seen as a safe pair of hands. Much of the briefing about the next Chancellor fixated on whether Miliband was too left-wing or whether Mahmood was too right wing - but Healey is not aligned to one faction. The PM's team are clear he wants an experienced and trusted figure in the Treasury to deliver his vision. And it is his vision, as it increasingly looks like the economic direction will be set by Burnham in No10. The pair are aligned on key issues. Healey, a Yorkshire MP, shares his concern about deindustrialisation, the cost of living and backing British industry. Healey's record as a housing minister, and his commitment to overhauling forces accommodation, while he was at the Ministry of Defence, clearly chimes with Burnham's desire for a council house building boom. Healey's decision to resign over defence spending will put him under pressure to find cash for the armed forces. But his parting swipe at Treasury orthodoxy shows he's a safe pick with an edge - one who won't spook the markets but can help to drive through radical reforms.

Miliband gets Foreign Office

It is a blow to Miliband, who coveted the job of Chancellor, and played a pivotal role in the new PM's rise to power. For months he was Burnham's most powerful friend in Westminster, and is said to have been the first Cabinet Minister to privately urge Keir Starmer to resign. Burnham handed him another great office of state instead. Whether it is a consolation to Miliband remains to be seen.

Loyalty rewarded

The PM rewarded loyalty elsewhere by appointing key ally Louise Haigh as First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The former Transport Secretary, who was sacked by Starmer over a historic fraud conviction, is now one of the most powerful people in Government. Miatta Fahnbulleh, a highly-rated 2024 intake MP who has been supplying policy ideas to Burnham, has been rewarded with the energy brief. Lisa Nandy, another MP from Wigan, stays on as Culture Secretary. Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell, another ally, becomes Education Secretary - and one of his right-hand women, Anneliese Midgley, was named as Chief Whip. Heidi Alexander, who backed him in all three leadership bids, stays as Transport Secretary to deliver another key part of his agenda. Angela Rayner is back in Government in her old role, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government. She fought hard to win back this brief, which is a key priority for Burnham. The PM kept Pat McFadden at the Department of Work and Pensions, in a sign of his commitment to fixing the welfare system and getting young people into work. He also moved experienced minister Yvette Cooper to the Department of Health, where she will drive much-needed reforms to the broken social care system. Intriguingly, Wes Streeting was made Defence Secretary, replacing decorated former soldier Dan Jarvis. But his record in gripping the NHS at the Department of Health appears to have counted in his favour - along with his decision to set aside his own leadership ambitions to fold in behind Burnham.

Northern-focused Cabinet

The Cabinet is now weighted towards the North, with seven MPs with seats in the North West, and four in Yorkshire and Humber. Only four have seats in London. Burnham has packed his Cabinet with experienced people as well as some fresher faces to shake things up. But there is only one vision here - and it's his.