Where the green agenda sits in Burnham's Cabinet
By Costanza Poggi, Managing Director
Without a leadership challenge to manage, Burnham arrived in Downing Street with an unusually large group of supporters across the parliamentary Labour party and beyond, meaning plenty of people to reward with jobs and just as many to disappoint. The wait is now over. Burnham's cabinet is out, and it shows where his priorities lie.
John Healey as Chancellor: a defence appointment with an unclear green record
Burnham managed a rare feat in surprising most people with his appointment of John Healey as Chancellor. It's a safe choice that should keep markets and sceptics calm, and potentially a smart move to solve one of the conundrums that contributed to Starmer's demise: disagreement over how much to commit to the defence budget. Healey resigned over the Treasury's reluctance to spend on defence, so it's now his job to find the money, however this is going to come at a cost: according to the OBR reaching 3% defence threshold means an extra £17.3bn per year by 2029–30. His environmental credentials are less clear though he is supportive of backing British industry.
Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary: can the UK reclaim its climate leadership role?
Having driven one of the most ambitious agendas in government, not without criticism or scrutiny, Miliband is likely to look at how the green agenda can elevate the UK's role in the world. Day two of Burnham’s Government already raised a challenge to this with confirmation that foreign climate aid budgets will be altered with immediate funding to be “re-prioritised” to “ease the cost of living”.
Nonetheless, we can expect him to be globetrotting, building on the relationships and agreements he delivered as DESNZ Secretary – across energy, climate, and security – and rubbing alongside international progressives like Gavin Newsom, Governor of California and future Democrat leader hopeful.
Miatta Fahnbulleh as DESNZ secretary: energy as a public good
DESNZ has seen a major shake-up, with Miliband moving to the Foreign Office and Fahnbulleh, who resigned from government over welfare reform, taking his place. She has been working closely with Burnham and brings a background as an economist and former CEO of the New Economics Foundation, where she pushed progressive economic policy on inequality and sustainability.
Socio-economic justice drives most of what she does, so decarbonisation will be seen through a cost-of-living and fairness lens. She's not new to the brief either: as a minister at DESNZ under Miliband, she was a key architect of the Warm Homes Plan, so she returns with knowledge of one of the department's flagship programmes. She is well respected with DESNZ civil servants and seen as someone more across the policy detail than Miliband.
Public control is also central to Burnham and Fahnbulleh's vision for a fairer, more affordable energy system. She fronted the government's first announcement alongside the new Chancellor: scrapping VAT on energy bills, reflecting her view that voters need money in their pockets now.
She will face a challenging few months head-to-head with the Chancellor as the Department undergoes “re-prioritisation” of budgets, likely including a controversial cancelling of future CCUS funding and confirmed re-jigging of international climate aid.
What she can't lose sight of: an Energy Independence Bill that cuts household bills, protects consumers, and delivers on Labour's manifesto commitment to end new oil and gas licensing.
It will need to include legislation for Reformed National Pricing, network build, Final Consumption Levy removal, the new Warm Homes Agency and new minimum energy efficiency requirements for social and rented homes.
Katie White and Michael Shanks are returning to the department – both have worked closely with Miatta and will be critical to continuing to deliver.
But the fate of Clean Power Plan 2030 is in the balance – with both right and left (including Tony Blair) calling for the target to be dropped. Head of the Clean Power Mission Control Chris Stark’s contract is up at the end of the year with no current plans to extend it.
Angela Eagle at Defra: continuity for farming, an open question on oceans and circular economy
Angela Eagle moves to DEFRA secretary after a short stint as security minister, having previously served as farming minister. With a good relationship already built with the farming community, she'll be seen as a safe, continuity choice for a group badly stung by the Starmer administration from the start. Fisheries also sit within her remit, alongside environmental protection and food security, though the fisheries and water ministers are yet to be confirmed. The previous water Minister Emma Hardy has been promoted to Minister of State, but her remit is still to be confirmed.
Emma Reynolds will be taking some of her DEFRA brief to the Treasury as Chief Secretary. Anything on Special Administration for Thames Water will now need to go through her, and she has been close to that debate for months, giving her a clearer view of the costs and logistics than most. The Prime Minister wants to explore new ownership models for water companies, so how Reynolds and Eagle work together with the new Chancellor will be one to watch.
On Eagle's list: the Clean Water Bill is expected in autumn at the earliest, and could slip further given the change of administration, but it's too politically significant to scrap. Cleaning up Britain's rivers, lakes and seas was a major election issue, and we expect this to remain a core commitment. Around our coasts, Eagle has the opportunity for an early win through enacting planned bans on bottom trawling in another tranche of Marine Protected Areas.
The long-awaited Circular Economy Growth Plan is still to be published, despite a long consultation process, strong stakeholder backing and a clear growth case.
Angela Rayner returns to Housing: has she moved on from builders versus blockers?
As Housing Secretary in 2025, Rayner operated under the flagship pledge to build 1.5 million homes, overhauling planning and committing to "back the builders, not the blockers." That framing cast nature as an obstacle to growth and strained relationships with parts of the environment sector.
This narrative also ignores the value of nature to revitalising local areas and the grain of what voters want from their housing and infrastructure. The number one priority for the public when choosing a new home is access to countryside according to polling by More In Common, but in the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in England, nearly one in three people have very limited access to biodiversity, almost three times the rate in the most affluent areas.
Nature-integrated infrastructure is more valuable too. ONS analysis of over a million property sales found homes within 100 metres of public green space sell for an average of £2,500 more than equivalent homes over 500 metres away — a premium that rises to over £5000 with a view over green or blue space.
Heidi Alexander stays at Transport: continuity for railways but challenge remains for the ZEV mandate
Continuing as Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander faces her most immediate test on the ZEV mandate over the next year. She has pushed for the DfT's review of the mandate to be completed "in the next six months" and has ruled out changes to the 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel car sales. She will nonetheless face considerable pressure from OEMs to increase flexibilities and soften the sales trajectories.
Alexander will also likely maintain the momentum she has built on moving the railways into public ownership - a key priority under Starmer, and one Burnham has been vocal on. Getting Great British Railways up and running will remain a focus.
The other major transport policy is Heathrow expansion. The enormous capital spend required will now come under renewed scrutiny: Alexander was personally unsupportive of expansion during her time at the Mayor of London's office; it was previously a favoured project of Rachel Reeves; and the defence budget is likely to squeeze large capital projects more broadly.
Other things you might have missed:
DSIT and DBT merged
The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, led by Jonathan Reynolds, folds two departments into one. Burnham was warned against the move by university and innovation leaders, on the grounds that different tech sectors will lack a single Government partner that understands how they work together and this will slow investment and momentum.
The Department is now responsible for everything from manufacturing to research and development. It is a tall order - though Reynolds’ first ‘industrial strategy’ did include digital and technology, alongside advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and clean energy.
Minister Chris McDonald (joint with DESNZ) has been promoted from Parliamentary Undersecretary to Minister of State – a promising showing for industry and energy.
A new AI Minister sitting in Cabinet
The AI Minister role will attend Cabinet, sitting jointly across the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Kanishka Narayan, appointed to the position, called his invitation to Cabinet a "sign of [Burnham's] deep commitment to AI's importance." He previously served as Minister for AI and Online Safety from September 2025. Narayan is well regarded for his business engagement and detailed policy work, with a strong reputation among businesses for practical problem-solving to unlock investment.
Next on our watch list: Special Advisers.