Sir Keir Starmer tells first Cabinet 'huge amount of work to do'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Sir Keir Starmer told ministers there was a “huge amount of work to do” as he chaired the first meeting of his new Cabinet on his first full day in Downing Street.The Prime Minister told his top team it had been “the honour and the privilege of my life” to be invited by the King to form the Government after sweeping to a historic victory at the polls.Sir Keir and ministers looked in high spirits as he gave brief opening remarks at the start of the gathering.Flanked by his deputy Angela Rayner and Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, he said: “Look, colleagues, it is absolutely fantastic to welcome you to the Cabinet, our first meeting.“And it was the honour and privilege of my life to be invited by the King, His Majesty the King, yesterday to form a Government and to form the Labour Government of 2024.“And now we hold our first Cabinet meeting.

So I welcome you to it.“We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work.”The remarks were met with loud applause by Cabinet ministers who Sir Keir appointed on Friday and largely mirror his shadow team before the election.The Prime Minister confirmed Rachel Reeves as the UK’s first female chancellor, Angela Rayner as his deputy and Housing Secretary and Pat McFadden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.David Lammy was named Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper Home Secretary, John Healey Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting Health Secretary and Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary.Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband will retain their briefs of justice and energy respectively, but former attorney general Emily Thornberry was replaced by barrister Richard Hermer KC.Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.You'll receive daily