Keir Starmer, the new PM, announced the members of his cabinet an hour after the Labor Party’s great victory. Keir Starmer’s diverse cabinet is high because of the ministers employed. He has used women more than other governments. Also, there needs to be more racial diversity in the new cabinet of the UK government. This article examines the diversity in the cabinet of the latest UK government.
The Labor Party won the UK parliamentary elections
The recent UK Parliamentary elections took place on July 4. The Labor Party formed the government by defeating the Conservative Party and gaining an absolute majority of seats in the Parliament (410 out of 650 seats). The Labor Party forms the current UK government. This is the first labor government in 14 years. The UK’s winning party in Parliament can create a new cabinet. Usually, the leader of the winning party becomes the new prime minister. Thus Labor leader Keir Stammer automatically became the new prime minister after the party won the elections.
The King’s mission to Starmer was to form a cabinet
After announcing the results of the parliamentary elections, Rishi Sunak left the prime minister’s office. On the same day, Stammer, the leader of the Labor Party, attended the royal palace and was appointed by Charles III to form the cabinet. He went from the palace to the prime minister’s office with his wife, Victoria. Starmer gave his first speech as Prime Minister amid cheers from fans.
Keir Starmer’s diverse cabinet
David Lammy, who served as the foreign minister of the British shadow government, became the new foreign minister. John Healey took the position of the new British Defense Minister. John Healey was a supporter of increasing defense spending and a critic of downsizing the army. Healey was first elected to the UK Parliament in 1997 and was present in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Starmer has also nominated Rachel Reeves, the former economist of the Bank of England, as the finance minister. She is the first woman in British history to be elected to the position of Treasury Secretary, one of the most critical positions in the cabinet.
Increase in female ministers in Keir Starmer’s cabinet
The new UK government was formed with the largest number of public school-educated ministers and the largest number of women. 40% of the representatives in the new term of the UK Parliament are women, which is a record in the history of the UK Parliament. 46% of women are members of the Labor Party and 24% of the Conservative Party. For the first time, a woman became the Secretary of the Treasury.
The decline of racial diversity in the new UK government
Racial diversity in the new UK government decreased compared to the previous governments of this country. As the Guardian reports, there are 89 representatives from ethnic minorities in the UK Parliament. However, this variety has appeared to a lesser extent in the cabinet. Shabana Mahmood is one of the first female Muslim ministers in the UK Parliament. Moreover, in the new UK government, there is only one colored minister, the foreign minister, David Lammy. In addition, there are only two ministers of Asian origin in this cabinet. These two ministers are Shabana Mahmood, the Minister of Justice, and Lisa Nandy, the Minister of Culture, Media, and Sports.
David Lammy, the only person of color in Starmer’s cabinet
Keir Starmer’s diverse cabinet is somewhat diminished by selecting only one person of color. 52-year-old David Lammy became Foreign Minister when he was elected from the Tottenham constituency in the UK Parliamentary elections. He is the only colored minister in the new cabinet. He was born in London to parents from Guyana. For this reason, besides Guyana citizenship, he said he would use all his diplomatic efforts to establish a ceasefire in Gaza. Many observers welcomed it. Lammy is a political activist in the Labor Party, a member of Parliament (since 2000), and a lawyer. In the previous governments, he was once a consultant minister.
The election of a Muslim woman as the Minister of Justice
44-year-old Shabana Mahmood, a lawyer, became Minister of Justice simultaneously as she won the parliamentary elections from the Birmingham constituency. She has been in the Parliament since 2010. Shabana Mahmood is the only Muslim minister in the cabinet. She was born and raised in Birmingham, England, but his family origin goes back to the Kashmir region of Pakistan. She is a law graduate from Lincoln College, Oxford University, England.
Yvette Cooper, the new British Home Secretary
55-year-old Yvette Cooper became Secretary of State for the Home Department in the new UK government. Cooper was the Home Secretary in the shadow government. Yvette Cooper is a senior member of the Labor Party and has been Home Secretary in the shadow government since Labor’s defeat in the 2010 election. A journalist before her political career, she is the first minister in British history to take maternity leave. She has participated in a popular dance competition TV show with her husband, a former minister of education. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford, Harvard University, and the London School of Economics.
Rachel Reeves: The first female Chancellor of the Exchequer in the UK government
Rachel Reeves, the former economist of the Bank of England, has also become the Chancellor of the Exchequer. She is the first woman in British history to become Chancellor of the Exchequer, one of the most important cabinet positions. After her election to this new position, she said in a speech that he often disagreed with political decisions in the field of the treasury. Still, she never doubted the dedication of the employees of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Kier Starmer’s risk-taking in choosing Rachel Reeves
Keir Starmer’s diverse cabinet can be both a threat and an opportunity. More than half of the members of the new UK Parliament have taken the position for the first time. For the first time in British history, the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be a woman. Reeves played a central role in realigning the party and its push to embody economic competence. According to the Independent, she repeatedly stated this issue and promised “iron discipline” in public finances. Reeves has announced that he wants to rebuild public services. The former Bank of England economist faces the daunting task of delivering on this Labor promise. It aims to stimulate the economy and invest in public services while reducing the high national debt.
Restoring public trust depends on the positive actions of Starmer’s cabinet
According to the Telegraph, in his first speech after a decisive victory in the parliamentary elections, Keir Starmer presented a disappointing assessment of the current situation in the UK. Keir Starmer’s diverse cabinet aims to restore public trust in the UK government. The new British cabinet has yet to take any particular action so far. Public confidence in the government has declined in the UK. If the new government does not take immediate measures to restore social capital, it will suffer a decrease in popularity.
