Who do LabourList readers want to see in Andy Burnham’s Cabinet?

While the country waits for Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham to announce who will make up his front bench, LabourList readers have chosen their top choices for their fantasy Cabinet.

Hundreds of readers completed our Fantasy Cabinet game to choose who they would like to see serve as Chancellor, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary and for many other ministerial roles in government.

Ed Miliband was the most popular ministerial pick overall across departments, with 238 ‘appointments’, followed closely by Angela Rayner with 216 and Wes Streeting with 183.

For the Great Offices of State, Miliband was chosen as Chancellor by more than half (53 percent) of respondents, with Wes Streeting and Yvette Cooper a distant second and third to serve in the Treasury.

LabourList readers also opted to keep Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary, along with Yvette Cooper as Foreign Secretary – although outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer was chosen by 16 percent of respondents to oversee foreign affairs.

Dan Jarvis was picked by almost a third (29 percent) to remain as Defence Secretary, amid strong competition from John Healey (24 percent) and Al Carns (17 percent).

David Lammy was picked to remain as Justice Secretary, although Emily Thornberry was four votes away from replacing him for the role.

For other positions, Wes Streeting was chosen to return to the government as Health Secretary, while Jonathan Reynolds was selected to come back to his former role as Business Secretary. Bridget Phillipson was picked by LabourList readers to remain as Education Secretary.

Chi Onwurah, chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee and former shadow science minister under Corbyn and Starmer, was chosen to replace Liz Kendall as Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary.

Only one of the 2024 intake of Labour MPs featured in the Cabinet choices by respondents, with Peckham MP Miatta Fahnbulleh selected to become Energy Secretary – having previously served as a junior minister in the department.

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Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “LabourList readers are a discerning bunch who have a real knowledge of the Labour Party. In this fantasy cabinet, they have combined many existing Cabinet Ministers with some new and some returning faces.

“Particularly interesting are the roles of Chief Whip for Anneliese Midgley and Cabinet Office Minister for Louise Haigh. It has been these two women who have done a lot of work overseeing the transition and having them in roles where they would be holding the ring on policy delivery and implementation across government departments and in Parliament makes a great deal of sense.

“Of course, we await Burnham’s final choices. But – as always – he could do a lot worse than follow the advice of LabourList readers.”

Congratulations to Peter Taylor from Oxford for winning the Fantasy Cabinet contest – a signed copy of Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham’s book ‘Head North’ is on its way!

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