Yahoo Finance Who’s who in Labour’s new look Treasury and business teams?
After a resounding election victory, one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s top priorities was appointing key ministerial roles.
For businesses and City workers, any moves at the Treasury and business department are crucial to watch out for.
So we’ve rounded up who’s who in these areas under Labour’s new look top team.
Treasury
Rachel Reeves – Chancellor of the Exchequer
Appointed shadow Chancellor under Keir Starmer in 2021, the 45-year-old former chess champion studied PPE at Oxford and worked at the Bank of England.
She was first elected as MP for Leeds West and Pudsey in 2010.
Darren Jones – Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Reeves’ number two at No11, Jones, a former tech lawyer, rose through the Labour ranks as chairman of the business select committee, often taking witnesses to task in viral clips.
The 37-year-old MP for Bristol North West was first elected in 2017, and is also a keen saxophone player.
Lord Livermore – Financial Secretary to the Treasury
As financial secretary, Baron Spencer Livermore, 49, is tasked with – among others – growth, productivity, investment, and industrial strategy.
The former Gordon Brown-era strategist and ex-Treasury SPAD studied at LSE and worked at Saatchi and Saatchi and McKinsey, before becoming a peer in 2015.
James Murray MP – Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The MP for Ealing North’s role encompasses policies on investment zones, excise duties and the Crown Estate.
Murray, 40, worked as deputy mayor of London for housing under Sadiq Khan, before being elected to parliament in 2019.
One to watch? Emma Reynolds MP – Parliamentary Secretary
The 46-year-old MP for Wycombe rejoined parliament last week, and was swiftly appointed to the Treasury. She previously served as MP for Wolverhampton from 2010 to 2019.
Another Oxford PPE graduate, Reynolds has worked in Brussels, as a political adviser and in No10. While she was out of parliament she ran the public affairs team at TheCityUK.
Tulip Siddiq – Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister
Siddiq held the shadow City minister brief since 2021, where she led Labour’s policy on financial services and plans to “modernise the regulatory burden”.
The 41-year-old has been the neighbouring MP to Starmer in her Hampstead and Highgate constituency, since 2015, and is the niece of the current Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Business and trade
Jonathan Reynolds – Business and Trade Secretary and Board of Trade President
A graduate of Manchester University and former council worker, Reynolds, 43, was first elected to Stalybridge and Hyde in 2010.
He has previously held roles as shadow energy, transport and work and pensions secretary.
Douglas Alexander – Minister of State
New Labour-era minister Douglas Alexander, 56, is among those returning to the Commons, in his new seat of Lothian East, after representing Paisley South, from 1997 until 2015.
After serving in roles including Scottish, transport and international development secretary under Blair and Brown, he tweeted that he was “incredibly proud” to join the department “in a role that’s crucial for our central mission to deliver growth”.
Sarah Jones – Minister of State
Jones, 51, will focus on industry and decarbonisation in her joint minister of state roles at the business and energy departments.
She has been MP for Croydon West, formerly Croydon Central, since 2017 and previously worked as a senior civil servant, including on delivering the London 2021 Olympic Games.
Gareth Thomas – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Labour MP for Harrow West since 1997, Thomas’ ministerial role will focus on bringing “the voice of small business into the heart of government” via the government’s plan for SMEs.
He previously stood to be Labour’s candidate for London mayor in 2015, and worked as an international development and trade and investment minister from 2008 to 2010.
Justin Madders – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
The MP for Ellesmere Port and Bromborough, formerly Ellesmere Port and Neston, was first elected in 2015, and his focus is “to deliver on Labour’s agenda to make work pay”.
He is a 51-year-old law graduate from Sheffield University and has previously worked as a solicitor, focusing on employment law, and as a shadow health, care and business minister.
Baroness Jones – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Baroness Meryl Jones, 69, received a life peerage in 2006, after serving as a trade union official and Labour Party chairman.
The Cardiff-born sociology graduate, housing campaigner and environmentalist will help deliver Labour’s plan to “bring economic growth to every part of the country”, Reynolds said.
