James Murray has been appointed as secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care in a mini reshuffle prompted by Wes Streeting’s resignation.
Murray was chief secretary to the Treasury from September until yesterday, when Streeting quit ahead of a widely-anticipated bid to become Labour Party leader and prime minister.
Streeting published a stinging resignation letter, accusing PM Keir Starmer of presiding over a leadership “vacuum” instead of “vision”, and “drift” instead of “direction”.
He said that while there were “many good reasons” to remain in post, he had lost confidence in Starmer’s leadership and concluded it would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” to stay.
Streeting’s letter also made clear reference to the recent sackings of former cabinet secretary Sir Chris Wormald and former Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office perm sec Sir Olly Robbins.
"Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords," he said.
Posting on X last night, Murray said he was “deeply honoured to be appointed by the prime minister as health and social care secretary”.
He added: “Can't wait to get started and continue Wes Streeting's brilliant work on such a critical mission for our country.”
Murray also thanked chancellor Rachel Reeves for his “time as part of her fantastic team”.
Following Murray’s promotion, Downing Street has appointed Lucy Rigby as chief secretary to the Treasury and Rachel Blake as economic secretary to the Treasury – the post Rigby held until yesterday.
Before he became chief secretary to the Treasury, Murray was exchequer secretary at the department – where his responsibilities included HM Revenue and Customs.
Murray also served as chair of HMRC for roughly a year while he held his original Treasury post, and described himself as “politically responsible” for delivery at the tax-collection agency.
His assertions prompted a call for “clarity” from Dame Meg Hillier, who chairs parliament's Treasury Committee, as HMRC’s status as a non-ministerial department has historically meant it is run by civil servants and operates at arm’s length from ministers.
Before he was elected as MP for Ealing North in 2019, Murray served as deputy mayor of London for housing and residential development for three years. Prior to that he spent a just over a decade as a councillor in the London Borough of Islington.