Starmer appoints four new ministers
Sir Keir Starmer has appointed four new ministers to fill the vacancies due to a quartet of resignations.
The prime minister late on Tuesday announced that Nesil Caliskan will be the new devolution minister, Natalie Fleet a Home Office minister, Catherine Atkinson joining the Ministry of Justice and Preet Kaur Gill becoming a health minister.
Miatta Fahnbulleh, Jess Phillips, Alex Davies-Jones and Zubir Ahmed all announced their resignations on Tuesday.
Miliband denies claims he told cabinet members he could run for leader
Ed Miliband has denied claims he has told other cabinet ministers he is prepared to run for the Labour leadership if Wes Streeting triggers an imminent contest.
The Times reported that the energy secretary would prefer Andy Burnham to become the next leader — if there was a vacancy — but could be forced to stand against Streeting if there was a rapid leadership race.
One Labour figure hostile to Miliband told the FT that the minister was on manoeuvres and had sounded out Labour MPs about how he might go about running a leadership campaign.
One ally of Miliband denied the rumours: “This is mischief-making, it is categorically untrue that Ed told cabinet colleagues that he was preparing to stand in case of a contest.”
Asked if Miliband, a former Labour leader, was ruling out standing to be Starmer’s successor, the ally pointed out: “I’d refer you back to Ed’s previous comments . . . about having been leader once having inoculated him against it again.”
Streeting to hold crunch meeting with Starmer on Wednesday
Health secretary Wes Streeting will meet Sir Keir Starmer tomorrow morning but will not say anything following the meeting “that might distract from the King’s Speech”, according to a person briefed on the plans.
Streeting is seen as one of the main contenders for the Labour leadership. Many in Westminster were poised for him to launch a bid on Tuesday.
While some had expected a flurry of ministers to resign ahead of Streeting launching a prospective bid, by Tuesday evening only four had announced they were standing down.