UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham will hold his first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday after reshaping the government and removing several allies of his predecessor Keir Starmer. On his first day in office, Burnham also announced a cut in energy bill taxes that he said would save the average household about 45 pounds a year from October 1.

Burnham, who replaced Starmer as leader of the governing Labour Party and entered Downing Street on Monday, said the tax cut would be funded by scrapping a plan for digital ID cards announced by Starmer. In his first speech as prime minister, he pledged to ease the cost of living, decentralise political power, revitalise industry and end street sleeping by homeless people.

The former mayor of Greater Manchester became Britain’s seventh prime minister since 2016. Starmer resigned two years after winning a landslide election victory, after being forced out by his own party following a series of missteps and U-turns.

Burnham quickly moved to remake the Cabinet. Rachel Reeves was replaced as finance minister by John Healey, the former defence secretary who resigned in June and accused the Treasury of failing to spend enough on the military at a time of rising threats. After stepping down, Healey had described the Treasury as “a dead hand on dynamic government” and “in denial”.

Healey has said defence spending, due to be 2.6 per cent of GDP next year, should rise to 3 per cent by 2030. Wes Streeting, whose resignation as health secretary in May helped bring down Starmer, has taken over the defence portfolio.

On the day Burnham took office, a Russian warship carried out a live-fire weapons exercise in the English Channel. The Ministry of Defence said the frigate Neustrashimy was being shadowed by the Royal Navy when it conducted the exercise in international waters about 74 kilometres south of Plymouth in southwest England.

“The Royal Navy monitored that exercise throughout, continues to track the vessel’s activity closely, and stands ready to protect UK national security,” the defence ministry said.

Among the other key Cabinet appointments, Ed Miliband became foreign secretary, Angela Rayner housing secretary and Jonathan Reynolds business secretary, with an expanded brief covering innovation and science. Louise Haigh, a close Burnham ally who helped engineer his rise, was appointed First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, effectively the deputy prime minister. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood remained in her post after overseeing contentious rules aimed at reducing immigration.

Burnham also removed several senior ministers linked to Starmer, including former deputy prime minister David Lammy, former business secretary Peter Kyle and Darren Jones, who had served as Starmer’s chief secretary. With a new Cabinet in place, Burnham has begun his premiership by combining a promised energy bill tax cut with a wider reshuffle of government.

With PTI Inputs

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Published By:

India Today Web Desk

Published On:

Jul 21, 2026 14:36 IST