Back to the Blairites: Starmer 'expected to bring David Miliband and Alan Milburn into his top team' - as he releases picture from inside Number 10 that cuts off the last five years of Tory PMs
- Keir Starmer draws on past successes as he maps out vision for the future
Keir Starmer is looking to bring former Blairites back into the fold as he seeks to shore up relations with the US and drive forward reform of the NHS, sources say.
Alan Milburn, a former MP and Health Secretary under Tony Blair, is set to help reform the National Health Service in an as-yet undetermined role, according to The Telegraph.
The move is seen to indicate that the private sector will still be a core component of their vision for the service, with Mr Milburn allegedly advising new Health Secretary Wes Streeting to ensure they can 'hit the ground running', according to the newspaper.
David Miliband is also pegged for a return to politics, with party insiders telling The Sun that Sir Keir has the new Energy Secretary's brother in consideration for the next ambassador to the United States - once the US elections conclude.
David Miliband served as Foreign Secretary under Gordon Brown between 2007 and 2010, and spent a year as Minister of State for Communities and Local Government when the role was created under Blair.
The Prime Minister has already taken strides in government with calls to foreign leaders and the appointment of a decorated cabinet of veteran politicians and field experts.
In a glimpse into life inside Downing Street, Number 10 on Saturday shared photos of the Labour leader climbing the stairs of his new home in front of portraits of the former Prime Ministers.
Mr Starmer was snapped between Major, Blair, Brown and Cameron - but the photograph cut off the last five years of leaders since May.
Starmer walks up the staircase of 10 Downing St surrounded by photos of his predecessors
Sir Keir has had a busy first two days, contacting world leaders and appointing a cabinet
Sir Keir is reportedly eyeing up a number of people who played key roles in Tony Blair's cabinet
Former home secretary Jacqui Smith has been appointed as an education minister in Sir Keir's Government
While the new Prime Minister campaigned on 'change', his recent appointments have harked back to the past, drawing from a pool of talented Blair-era politicians.
Two former cabinet ministers who served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been given junior minister positions, Downing Street announced on Saturday evening.
Douglas Alexander has been appointed as a business minister and Jacqui Smith an education minister.
Mr Alexander was the MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South in 1997, when Blair won his landslide victory.
He left politics after losing the seat in 2015, but staged a stunning comeback with his election as MP for Lothian East.
Mr Alexander held several cabinet roles in the last Labour government, including International Development Secretary and Transport Secretary.
Under Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet he served as Shadow Secretary for Work and Pensions and Shadow Foreign Secretary.
Jacqui Smith was the MP for Redditch between 1997 and 2010, serving as Home Secretary under Gordon Brown between 2007 and 2009 - making her the first woman to hold the position.
Trade magazine FE Week understands Mrs Smith will 'take the skills, further and higher education brief', although this has not yet be confirmed.
This would position her to oversee Labour's reforms to skills from college to university age.
Pat McFadden, made the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on Friday, was also previously a Blair minister.
Sir Keir told The Independent that he regularly receives texts from Tony Blair with advice as he takes his first steps in governing the country.
He said the advice was 'very helpful' and focused on transitioning from a party in opposition to governance.
Wes Streeting likewise said Labour 'often' called on Tony Blair as they prepared to battle the Tories in the general election.
The Independent claimed Lord Mandelson had given Sir Keir some advice in the run up to the election.
David Miliband is on the cards for a comeback to politics, insiders told The Sun
Alan Milburn (R), a former Health Secretary, is also expected to help drive NHS reform
The image of Sir Keir positioned him between the last former Labour PM's, Tony Blair (top right) and Gordon Brown (top left)
Keir Starmer holds his first press conference at 10 Downing Street on Saturday
Keir Starmer previously brushed off attempts to pigeon-hole him as either a Blairite or a Corbynite in a 2020 interview with Sky.
'I'm often challenged, are you a Blairite, a Corbynista?' he said on the Sky News Ridge on Sunday programme.
'I don't need someone else's name tattooed on my head to make a decision or hug a historical figure.'
Sir Keir also avoided describing himself as being definitively on the left or right of the party.
'I can think for myself, I don't need to hug Jeremy Corbyn, I don't need to hug Tony Blair or anybody else to make a decision,' he said at the time.
The news came as Tony Blair last night said the British public's desire to 'punish' the Conservatives is what led to Labour's landslide election victory.
The former PM said that Sir Keir has turned Labour into a 'credible instrument of punishment' by being 'focused, determined and ruthlessly effective' during his rise to power.
Sir Tony, who was the last person to lead Labour to a general election victory, has praised Starmer for refusing to make 'unrealisable promises' in his manifesto, calling it a 'blessing' that allows him leeway to act now he is in power.
However, the 71-year-old has also issued a warning to the former head of the CPS , saying he needs to create a new plan to deal with immigration, avoid 'wokeism' and handle the 'challenge' of the Muslim community.
Blair, who led Labour to three successive election victories in the late 90s and 2000s, has also urged Starmer to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), claiming it could be used to save billions in government and kick-start the economy.
Tony Blair speaks at the Global Energy Transition Congress and Exhibition in Milan, Italy, on July 1, 2024
Keir Starmer holds a press conference at Downing Street following his first cabinet meeting on July 6, 2024
Starmer led Labour to 412 seats in Thursday's general election, the highest number since Labour's landslide under Blair in 1997.
Blair said Starmer was helped by a large dislike for the Tories from the British public, writing in The Times: 'There was a huge desire not just to put the Conservative Party out, but to punish them. Labour was a credible instrument of punishment.'
He said that while the vote was split was lower than one might expect for a landslide victory, 'people voted for disparate parties knowing full well that doing so would give Labour a big majority' and the electorate 'deliberately' ignored warnings from the Conservatives about a supermajority.
Blair heaped praise on Starmer, saying he has a 'mandate' for change from the British public and that he has appointed 'exceptional talent' in his cabinet to help him see his vision turned into reality.
However, he has also warned that the new government faces similar challenges that proved to be the downfall of the Conservatives, including that from Reform UK which has 'pillaged the Tory vote' but also poses a risk to Labour.
'We need a plan to control immigration,' he said. 'If we don't have rules, we get prejudices. In office, I believed the best solution was a system of identity, so that we know precisely who has a right to be here. With, again, technology, we should move as the world is moving to digital ID. If not, new border controls will have to be highly effective.
He added: 'We need a tough new approach to law and order. At present, criminal elements are modernising faster than law enforcement.
'And the government should avoid any vulnerability on "wokeism".
'There is also clearly a challenge in part of the Muslim community, but that is a topic requiring its own special analysis.'
Tony Blair stands between Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer at St James's Palace in London ahead of the Accession Council ceremony in September 2022
Keir Starmer is applauded as he chairs his first cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London on Saturday, July 6, 2024
Blair added that the UK is stuck in a cycle of high tax and high debt that provides poor outcomes, and that new methods have to be tried to kick start the economy.
These include making changes to the 'hopelessly slow and bureaucratic planning system' and tweaking the post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, he argued.
The Labour grandee said that the solution to all these problems could lie within AI, which the new government should take advantage of to boost productivity and 'turbocharge' growth.
Blair said that using the technology, which has developed rapidly in recent years, could improve workforce efficiency in government, help deal with benefit fraud and save billions of pounds over the course of a decade.
He added that Labour's 'return to the centre-left' meant the party had gone back to a place of 'solutions, not ideology'.
His intervention comes as Keir Starmer released a clip of his first conversation with US President Joe Biden after he was elected Prime Minister.
The 81-year-old American premier said 'Mr Prime Minister, congratulations' in his first words to Starmer during a short call last night.
'What a hell of a victory! Congratulations,' he repeated as Sir Keir cracked a smile, leaning in to address Mr Biden through a telephone on a desk at Number 10.
'Thank you, Mr President. It's been a long night and day,' the Prime Minister said in something of an understatement, before expressing his thanks and plans to see Mr Biden in Washington next week.
'There is no doubt under your leadership, our two countries are going to continue our special relationship,' the President assured Sir Keir.
'We're working together on just about every issue: supporting Ukraine, managing the competition in China, advancing cooperation with AUKUS...'
'Firstly the special relationship is the bedrock for... our defence, our security and prosperity which is obviously central to our missions for government,' the Prime Minister said, rounding off the short clip with an assurance of continued relations with the United States under Joe Biden's presidency.
