As widely expected, the Labour Party has won a landslide election victory in the UK. The party’s leader, Keir Starmer, became Prime Minister on Friday and quickly assembled his top team in government. Most of the Shadow Cabinet moved over to the same jobs in government, including Rachel Reeves as Chancellor, Yvette Cooper as Home Secretary, David Lammy as Foreign Secretary and Jonathan Reynolds as Business Secretary.
The new government has been keen to make swift progress, with top appointments already filled and a flurry of activity to implement policy commitments. Notably, the Chancellor has announced changes to the UK’s onshore wind regime and action on house building targets.
The Prime Minister has also announced he will personally chair ‘mission delivery boards’ to track and drive progress on Labour’s five key missions for government. These delivery boards aim to consolidate cross-departmental expertise, ensuring efficient and cohesive action. Other departmental changes are also underway – for example, the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology will expand to incorporate data, AI and digital expertise from other parts of government.
As is customary, the new Prime Minister has engaged with major international allies. One noteworthy exchange came with the President of the European Commission, who, in the readout of their call, expressed her readiness ‘to strengthen co-operation and reset the relationship’ between the UK and the EU.
With a working majority of 180 seats in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Keir Starmer is well positioned to advance his legislative agenda. Action on Labour’s New Deal for Working People, as well as other proposals, are anticipated shortly after the King’s Speech (more below).
Looking ahead there are several key moments to watch. These include:
- The new Parliament will meet for the first time today, Tuesday 9 July;
- State Opening of Parliament and the King’s Speech is expected on Wednesday 17 July;
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves will present to Parliament an assessment of the state of the UK’s finances before the summer recess of Parliament;
- Chancellor Rachel Reeves will present a Budget later in the year, expected to be mid to late September to allow an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast to accompany it; and
- The Labour Party Conference in Liverpool begins on Sunday 22 September.
We will continue to monitor key developments as they happen and analyse what they could mean for your business. If you would like to discuss in further detail any of the points raised in this blog post, please contact the author or your usual Freshfields contact.
