Meet the new ministers driving Labour’s latest growth mission
A £25bn fiscal black hole, fading housebuilding hopes and lacklustre productivity growth marked a troublesome end to the first year in office for the new occupants of Downing Street this summer.
While the resignation of Angela Rayner – the popular Labour figure who had called for the Treasury to turn left and tax the wealthy – may have rocked Keir Starmer’s cabinet, government operators saw the chance to reiterate Labour’s ‘Day One’ mission: to drive economic growth.
Over 48 hours, Starmer scrambled to make new ministerial appointments in a bid to salvage his five missions, six milestones, and three foundations – and to fix his 101 problems.
Shabana Mahmood was made home secretary in a sign of the government’s desperation to deliver a firmer response to the small boat crossings. Yvette Cooper was given the role of foreign secretary as she kept a senior role, while David Lammy (also now the deputy prime minister) was nudged to justice secretary in a three-way switch.
The departmental switch-ups mask an underlying thread as meetings between most of the new ministers have so far solely and squarely been about boosting the UK economy.
Replacing the Chancellor would have been the most obvious (if high-risk) way of signposting a change in economic policy but Rachel Reeves, the UK’s most disliked politician according to polls, kept her position. She and Starmer still hold the main levers of power, highlighting the prime minister’s desire to maintain stability and avoid spooking bond markets with an untested Treasury chief.
Nevertheless, changes beneath the pair expose Downing Street’s desire to stress a new emphasis on stimulating growth. The impending Autumn Budget is set to be one of Labour’s last chances to introduce measures that would be felt by the next General Election, which is widely expected to be no earlier than 2029 despite Westminster rumours and Nigel Farage’s predictions.
Labour’s growth push
Pat McFadden was moved to the Department for Work and Pensions to retry introducing welfare reforms and deliver on upskilling British workers. Liz Kendall was moved to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology while Darren Jones was made the chief secretary to the prime minister, roaming around Westminster with a clipboard to quiz ministers on efficiency and delivery while Emma Reynolds will take her acumen as City minister to save failing water companies from the abyss as the new environment secretary.
Some who don’t see growth as high a priority were nevertheless kept in senior positions. Ed Miliband reportedly kicked up a fuss when asked to ditch his job as net zero secretary. Other officials considered to be on the soft left wing of Labour, such as culture secretary Lisa Nandy, were likely maintained in ministerial roles to extend an arm to potentially troublesome backbenchers.
Union bosses, who are also big Labour donors, were unnerved by the substitution of Jonathan Reynolds for Peter Kyle as business secretary. With the Employment Rights Bill reaching its final stages in parliament and ongoing consultations threatening to undo work done by Rayner and Reynolds, it is feared by advocates of more regulation that growth ambitions will trump everything else in Starmer’s “phase two”.
Indeed, as shown by sweeping ministerial appointments across several departments, growth is – we’re told – the ultimate mission, milestone, foundation – and problem. So who has Starmer charged with delivering it? We take a look at the new growth squad.
Peter Kyle, business secretary
Peter Kyle’s transfer from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology likely disappointed the tech darlings around Old Street and the rest of the UK. Kyle was praised by some in the sector for his ambition to make the country a “global magnet” for innovation and pushing for AI to sweep Whitehall and the creative sector. Those moves also left Kyle with some critics, and he’ll now be right in the middle of lobby group battles between business owners and unions as the Employment Rights Bill comes into force.
Steve Reed, housing secretary
“Build, baby, build” is the easiest way Starmer’s government can sound radically free-market without going full-fat Maga. This was the mantra Steve Reed uttered to civil servants this week to accelerate the government’s drive towards building 1.5m homes by 2030 – a seemingly impossible task given the wretched state of the UK construction sector. Reed, who is taking over from Rayner, is set to lead on a new planning reform bill as the government will need to more than double the rate of house building if it wishes to hit its target.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, housing minister
One of Steve Reed’s deputies, Miatta Fahnbulleh has taken a lefty spin on Labour’s house building targets. Fahnbulleh used to run the New Economics Foundation, a Corbyn-era think tank that has championed adding red tape to “humanise” house building, regulating rent prices and allowing “community right to buy” – otherwise giving organisations and designated landlords the chance to take property at lower prices. She has opposed local building projects in Peckham and mentioned the word growth four times in parliament so far.
Dan Tomlinson, tax minister in the Treasury
Daniel Tomlinson has been highlighted as one of the biggest advocates of more housing on the parliamentary benches. As part of the Labour Growth Group, his ascension to the Treasury suggests the government is hoping to bulldoze its way to economic expansion. He’s previously served as the government’s National Champion for the Growth Mission, whatever that means. In his new ministerial brief he’ll work closely with tax-enthusiast Torsten Bell who is set to play a leading role in Autumn Budget preparations. Tomlinson worked under Bell at the Resolution Foundation up until 2022.
Josh Simons, parliamentary secretary in the Cabinet Office
Another Labour Growth Group appointee in Josh Simons suggests Starmer’s government is serious about getting things done. The parliamentary caucus has pushed for vast infrastructure reforms, improving government operations and channelling venture capital-style funding for research and development projects. Simons’ work as a director of the think tank Labour Together also puts him closer to the centre of the party.
Kanishka Narayan, junior minister in Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Kanishka Narayan’s addition to DSIT suggests the government is looking to revise investment for research projects across the UK economy. As an Old Etonian, Oxford PPE graduate and MBA recipient from Stanford University he is frankly a different calibre of Labour politician. He is one of the few Labour ministers who can boast about a career in the private sector, despite spending much of his time in the civil service. Narayan’s experience working in the City at advisory firm Lazard and venture capital firms Atomico and Clocktower Ventures equips him with vital insights as to how young tech companies can grow.
Lucy Rigby, City minister in the Treasury
Lucy Rigby is the fifth City minister in four years. It’s not a stat that investors are likely to be raving about but with a CV as a top Slaughter & May lawyer, partner at litigation boutique Hausfeld and official at the Office of Fair Trading and Which?, Rigby can claim to have some command over her role, which will mainly involve easing regulation on financial markets and introducing pro-growth rules for fintech companies. But if bank taxes are hiked and bond markets panic, Rigby may have to take the flak for Labour’s woes.
Jason Stockwood, investment minister
As the owner of Grimsby Town FC, Jason Stockwood has lured investment from Hollywood stars and US private equity giants. He has also recently seen how underdogs can outperform and defeat the behemoths after Grimsby knocked Manchester United out of the League Cup two weeks ago. This experience positions him as a local Labour hero who can understand the attractiveness of UK assets to foreign investors. His experience as a “serial tech entrepreneur”, as Oxford University described him thanks to his leadership roles at Match.com and Skyscanner, means he can understand why some companies grow – and others don’t. But following the footsteps of Poppy Gustafsson, the co-founder of tech company Darktrace who resigned from the government last week, is no easy task.