Veteran politician Harriet Harman will work to drive a cultural shift in the civil service to "boost opportunity for women" as part of a new role advising the prime minister on women and girls.
Keir Starmer announced he had appointed Harman on Saturday alongside former prime minister Gordon Brown, who will be his special reviewer on global finance and cooperation. The appointments came in the wake of local election results that saw Labour lose more than a thousand council seats.
Harman, who was appointed as UK special envoy for women and girls in March 2025 by then-foreign secretary David Lammy, will advise the PM on how to "galvanise government" to deliver for women and girls.
She will work with ministers across government to drive an "impactful agenda" focusing on tackling violence against women and girls, unlocking economic opportunity and improving representation.
Harman will also work with the cabinet secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo, to “drive a shift in culture across the civil service and ministerial offices, enhancing opportunity for women and enhancing government delivery for women”.
She will draw on work with women across parliament to identify action needed to tackle misogyny and deliver greater opportunity for women in parliamentary and public life.
The government has declared the scale of violence and abuse suffered by women and girls in this country as a national emergency and pledged to halve these crimes in a decade. No.10 said Harman’s appointment underlines the government’s commitment to empowering women and girls.
Harman was an MP from 1982 to 2024, when she became a peer. During her career as an MP, she held several ministerial roles including minister for women and equality and social security secretary. She was also deputy leader of the Labour Party for eight years.
In her first ministerial role as solicitor general from 2001-2005, Harman led a drive within government to make tackling domestic violence a priority. The campaign led to the introduction of a new law – the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act – to bring about more effective prosecutions for domestic violence and add a network of 60 specialist domestic violence courts.
As the prime minister’s special reviewer on global finance and cooperation, Brown will advise on how global finance cooperation can build a stronger Britain, boosting the country’s security and resilience.
His appointment comes as the UK prepares to hold the presidency of the G20 next year.
Brown will be tasked with developing new international finance partnerships that can support defence and security-related investment, including measures that underpin the UK’s relationship with Europe.
As part of the role, he will engage with international leaders and finance institutions as well as private finance partners to establish multilateral finance mechanisms.
Brown was Britain’s longest-serving modern chancellor. As PM, he worked with international counterparts to respond to the worldwide financial crisis. In April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London, where world leaders pledged to make an additional $1.1tn available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs.
Brown and Harman will both report directly to the to the PM and will serve in unpaid, part-time roles.
Bond, the UK network for NGOs, welcomed the appointments. Its chief executive, Romilly Greenhill, said the double move "signals a welcome commitment to mainstreaming important discussions around global financial reforms and tackling violence against women and girls, on the global stage".
"Now, this ambition must be matched by action," she added.