As well as bringing back ministers who served in the last Labour government, the prime minister has appointed new ministers who have expertise in particular fields. The first non-cabinet appointments announced were Patrick Vallance and James Timpson, appointed as science and prisons ministers respectively.

Starmer has appointed two select committee chairs from the previous parliament, Diana Johnson and Stephen Timms, as mid-ranking ministers in the departments they used to scrutinise, the Home Office and DWP. And new MPs including Georgia Gould, who used ‘missions’ while leading Camden Council, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, a former civil servant and think tank boss, have been appointed as junior ministers too (this is the first time in decades that new MPs have been made ministers immediately after being elected). Getting used to both parliament and government at the same time will be difficult – and their immediate promotion may cause disquiet among their new colleagues in the parliamentary party. 

While these ministers know their subject matter, learning how government works and how they can ensure the system is delivering on their priorities is still a steep learning curve. Vallance of course has more understanding of government but will be getting used to the intricacies of the House of Lords.

As well as new expert ministers, the government has appointed various experts to non-ministerial roles: Chris Stark, former head of the Committee on Climate Change, will run the government’s decarbonisation mission; Sir Kevan Collins, a former teacher, local council manager and head of the Education Endowment Foundation, has been appointed as a non-executive director at the Department for Education. These and other expert appointments bring subject knowledge into the heart of government.

To bring in these subject experts and experienced former ministers, Starmer has had to demote 20 MPs from his shadow team to the backbenches. While the election victory should mean the prime minister has few difficulties in maintaining loyalty over the coming weeks, as the parliament goes on the promise of a ministerial job may become a more valuable tool in party management. There will inevitably be changes to the ministerial ranks, because of disagreement, scandal, poor performance or personal circumstance.

Whenever he decides to next shake up his team, Keir Starmer will need to think carefully about how to keep people onside, manage talent, reward ministers who invest in their skills and development, and be unafraid to demote those who don’t meet the standards he expects.