'Be honest with us!' Darren Jones grilled by GB News on 'panic reshuffle' after Angela Rayner resignation

WATCH NOW: Christopher Hope speaks to new Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones

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GB News

Georgia Pearce

By Georgia Pearce


Published: 06/09/2025

- 11:57

Sir Keir Starmer reshuffled his cabinet following the resignation of ex-Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner

Labour minister Darren Jones has been told to "be honest with us" in a fiery grilling by GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope.

Speaking to the People's Channel, the newly appointed Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster assured that the reshuffle was a part of "Labour's phase two", not because of Angela Rayner.


Following the announcement of Ms Rayner's departure from Government, the Prime Minister announced a major cabinet reshuffle.

Some key appointments include David Lammy as the new Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, with Yvette Cooper moved to Foreign Secretary and Shabana Mahmood taking her position as Home Secretary.

Darren Jones

GB News Political Editor Christopher Hope spoke to the newly appointed Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

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GB NEWS

Defending the reshuffle on GB News, Mr Jones stated: "As the Prime Minister said on Monday, this is the second chapter of the Labour Government.

"The first chapter, the first year being a new Government coming in and getting a grip with the crises, putting out the fires that we'd inherited from the Conservatives.

"And now we're on to chapter two, where we get to really start to drive delivery of the promises of change that we made to the public at the last election."

Interjecting, Christopher scoffed: "Come off it! It's a panicked reshuffle in response to Angela Rayner's resignation, be honest with us."

Mr Jones hit back: "I am being honest with you, the Prime Minister was already planning a reshuffle. I'll be honest, he wanted to do it in a slightly slower time frame.

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"But we announced the No10 appointments on Monday, my new job as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister.

"When it became clear that Angela was going to leave Government, the Prime Minister took decisive action and decided to bring that reshuffle forward and just get the job done on Friday."

Pressed by Christopher on whether the cabinet reshuffle is an attempt to trump Reform UK's lead in the polls, Mr Jones told GB News: "No, this is about making sure that we've got brilliant colleagues in brilliant jobs, making sure that the Government machine is really driving delivery of the public's priorities."

Quizzing the Labour minister further, Christopher interjected: "So they were all in the wrong jobs before, were they?"

Mr Jones disagreed: "That's not what I said, reshuffles are reshuffles, you move people around, you make sure as your agenda is developing, you bring people into different jobs.

"And that's normal in Government, and we've got a brilliant team now that's going to be getting on with delivering on the public's priorities."

Darren Jones

Mr Jones told GB News that Keir Starmer's priorities are the 'public's priorities'

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GB NEWS

Grilling Mr Jones on the Prime Minister's agenda for Britain, the new Chief Secretary to Sir Keir assured that his "priorities are the public's priorities".

He concluded: "The Prime Minister's priorities are the public's priorities, so it's about tackling the cost of living crisis and making people get better wages at work. It's about getting public services back on their feet, with a predominant focus on the NHS.

"And it's about making sure that people feel safe and confident about their local communities, and that includes things like the borders and the small boats crisis. So those are the obvious priorities that the public has. They are the Government's priorities.

"And my job as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister in Downing Street, as well as my job in the Cabinet Office, is about helping him to make sure that we're firing on all cylinders across Government to make sure we can deliver those things for the public."

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