Thornberry dropped as new ministers announced
ReutersLong-time shadow cabinet minister Emily Thornberry will have no ministerial role in the new Labour government, the BBC understands.
In a statement Ms Thornberry said she is “very sorry and surprised” after not being appointed Attorney General in Sir Keir Starmer’s government, having held the role in opposition for three years.
Her name was absent from Monday’s appointments, as Sir Keir announced new ministerial jobs in the Labour government after last week’s landslide victory.
Anneliese Dodds, who until last week was chair of the Labour party, has been given a Cabinet role, with a job in the Foreign Office alongside a role as women and equalities minister.
Ms Thornberry had served in the shadow cabinet since 2016, rising to both shadow foreign secretary and shadow first minister of state under Jeremy Corbyn.
In 2020 she ran against Sir Keir to take over as leader of Labour after Mr Corbyn stood down; then served in his shadow cabinet in opposition.
In a statement on social media about being dropped, Ms Thornberry said that her “personal disappointment” does not “detract from the amazing and historic victory that all of us in the Labour movement worked together to win last week”.
Despite being “very sorry and surprised not to be able to continue” working as Attorney General in government, “Richard Hermer KC – a much more accomplished lawyer than I could ever hope to be – will do an outstanding job”, she said.
The last line of her statement ignited some speculation in Westminster about potential plans for a future role in government.
She signed off her statement saying: “I will continue giving my unstinting loyalty to our Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, as he leads that work, as I have done since he became leader, and I look forward to supporting his government in every way I can in the years to come.”
Stephen Kinnock has been moved on from his brief covering immigration, one of the new government’s key priorities, taking on a new role in the Health and Social Care Department.
Nick Thomas-Symonds has not been given a Cabinet role after four years in the shadow cabinet and now holds a senior ministerial position overseeing European relations.
The prime minister plucked both Sir Stephen Timms and Dame Diana Johnson from the backbenches and installed them in the departments they had been shadowing as committee chairs in the last parliament.
Dame Diana, the former chair of the Home Affairs Committee, becomes a minister in the Home Office; and Sir Stephen returns to government as a Work and Pensions Minister, a role he held in the Blair government.
His appointment means three current MPs who served in Tony Blair’s Cabinet are now in government – the others being Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn and Business Minister Douglas Alexander.
Another Blair-era returnee is Lord Livermore, who worked as a special advisor to Gordon Brown during his time as chancellor, who becomes Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
Maria Eagle and Dame Angela Eagle, who made history as the first twins to serve in government at the same time under Gordon Brown, both return as ministers. Dame Angela becomes Home Office minister, while Ms Eagle will serve in the Ministry of Defence.
Sir Keir’s new ministerial appointments continue to provide some surprise announcements, with roles for experts with no previous connection to his shadow cabinet.
Lord Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, will be a transport minister. Lord Hendy, who previously led Transport for London (TfL) under Ken Livingstone, has served in the House of Lords as an independent crossbench peer since 2022.
His appointment follows the earlier appointments of ex-government chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance and head of the Prison Reform Trust James Timpson as ministers.
Heidi Alexander returned to the Commons on Thursday after six years as deputy mayor of London – and has been instantly appointed a justice minister.
The full list of new ministerial appointments made on Monday are:
- Anneliese Dodds as Foreign Minister and Women and Equalities Minister in the Department for Education
- Nick Thomas-Symonds as Paymaster General and Minister for the Constitution and European Relations
- Lord Livermore as Financial Secretary to the Treasury
- Stephen Doughty as Foreign Office Minister
- Angela Eagle as Home Office Minister
- Diana Johnson as Home Office Minister
- Lord Coaker as Defence Minister
- Maria Eagle as Defence Minister
- Heidi Alexander as Justice Minister
- Karin Smyth as Health and Social Care Minister
- Stephen Kinnock as Health and Social Care Minister
- Catherine McKinnell as Education Minister
- Sarah Jones as Energy Security and Net Zero Minister and Business and Trade Minister
- Alison McGovern as Work and Pensions Minister
- Stephen Timms as Work and Pensions Minister
- Chris Bryant as Science, Innovation and Technology Minister and Culture, Media and Sports Minister
- Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill as Transport Minister
- Daniel Zeichner as Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister
