Sir Keir Starmer has appointed David Lammy as his new interim Deputy Prime Minister as part of a major Cabinet reshuffle following Angela Rayner's resignation from her two Government positions.
Ms Rayner stepped down as Housing Secretary and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party after admitting she underpaid £40,000 in tax after buying a flat in the seaside resort town of Hove.
The Prime Minister's reshuffle will see Yvette Cooper moved to Foreign Secretary, Shabana Mahmood taking her position as Home Secretary, and David Lammy assuming the role of Justice Secretary.
The move will be a huge blow to Ms Cooper, who has been focused on stopping the boats.
She has now been moved out of that position and it will be incumbent upon Ms Mahmood to tackle the crisis after more than 50,000 people have crossed the Channel since Labour came into power last year.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will remain in her role.
However, the reshuffle has seen Lucy Powell sacked as the leader of the House of Commons and Ian Murray sacked as Scotland Secretary.
Pat McFadden has replaced Liz Kendall as Work and Pensions Secretary. Ms Kendall is set to become Tech Secretary.
David Lammy has been appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary
| PAShe could be taking over a new "super ministry", having also reportedly been appointed to the skills remit of the Department of Education.
The changes by Sir Keir means it will be the first time ever that the three most senior ministers in Government will be all women - Rachel Reeves, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood.
Ms Mahmood has become the sixth Home Secretary of the 2020s, while Ms Cooper has become the seventh Foreign Secretary and Mr Lammy the sixth Justice Secretary.
Liberal Democrats Leader Ed Davey has criticised Sir Keir's move.
Some of the moves within Labour's Cabinet reshuffle
|GB NEWS
"If Keir Starmer thinks a reshuffle will solve anything he is learning the wrong lessons from the calamity Conservatives," he wrote on X.
"He needs to grab the bull by the horns and confront the real issues, not just move people around the Cabinet table."
Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch earlier posted that "Angela Rayner is finally gone".
"But it's only because of Keir Starmer's weakness that she wasn't sacked three days ago," she added.
David Lammy walking up to Downing Street | PA"Britain deserves better."
After the decision, Mr Lammy arrived at Downing Street just after 4.30pm with the new Deputy Prime Minister previously promised by Sir Keir to stay in the role of Foreign Secretary for the full five years since last year's General Election victory.
Meanwhile, as further reshuffling develops, Peter Kyle has replaced Jonathan Reynolds as Business Secretary, and Lisa Nandy will remain Culture Secretary.
Streatham and Croydon North MP Steve Reed has taken over the position of Housing Secretary after Ms Rayner stepped down from the position on Friday.
Ms Rayner had referred herself to Sir Laurie Magnus, the Independent Ethics Adviser.
He said in a letter published on Friday that Ms Rayner had acted in "good faith", however, "the responsibility of any taxpayer for reporting their tax returns and settling their liabilities rests ultimately with themselves".
"She believed that she relied on the legal advice she had received, but unfortunately did not heed the cautioned contained within it, which acknowledged that it did not constitute expert tax advice and which suggested that expert advice be sought," Sir Laurie said.
The ethics watchdog said that Ms Rayner’s failure to settle her full stamp duty liability, as well as it only being established following media scrutiny, led him to consider the ministerial code had been breached.
Ms Rayner said she took "full responsibility for this error" in a letter to the Prime Minister, adding "I deeply regret my decision not to seek additional specialist tax advice".
Downing Street has confirmed that the King has approved a full list of appointments as part of the reshuffle.
It includes David Lammy as Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary along with his role as Deputy Prime Minister.
Darren Jones as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He will remain Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister
Yvette Cooper as Foreign Secretary and Shabana Mahmood taking her role as Home Secretary.
Steve Reed taking over as the Housing Minister as Pat McFadden assumes the role of Work and Pensions Secretary.
Peter Kyle has been appointed as Business and Trade Secretary while Liz Kendall has moved to Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary.
The Environment Secretary role has been given to Emma Reynolds as Douglas Alexander has been made Scottish Secretary.
Jonathan Reynolds has been made Treasury Secretary and Sir Alan Campbell has been made the Leader of the House of Commons.
It results in Angela Rayner, Lucy Powell and Ian Murray leaving the Government.
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