Starmer to chair Cabinet and face the media on first full day in No 10

Sir Keir Starmer will chair the first meeting of his new Cabinet and face questions from the media after promising to start work “immediately” on his first full day in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister appointed his top team on Friday after sweeping to an historic victory at the polls, making only minor changes to the shadow cabinet that existed before the election.

Sir Keir confirmed Rachel Reeves as Britain’s first woman chancellor, Angela Rayner as his deputy and Housing Secretary and Pat McFadden as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

David Lammy was officially named Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper Home Secretary, John Healey Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting Health Secretary and Bridget Phillipson Education Secretary.

Shabana Mahmood and Ed Miliband will retain their briefs of justice and energy respectively, although former attorney general Emily Thornberry was replaced by barrister Richard Hermer KC.

The Cabinet is expected to meet before Sir Keir faces questions from journalists in his first press conference as Prime Minister on Saturday.

Other ministerial appointments are expected be announced over the weekend, with Mr McFadden saying Sir Keir will move to quickly allocate responsibilities ahead of the Nato summit.

Sir Keir will make his debut on the international stage as Britain’s premier when he flies to Washington DC for the gathering next week, which is expected to include discussions on support for Ukraine.

He is also due to host the European Political Community summit in the UK on July 18.

It comes after Sir Keir promised “the work of change begins immediately” after leading Labour to landslide victory at the General Election on Friday.

After 649 of the 650 Commons seats had been declared, Labour had 412 seats and the Tories 121, the worst result in the party’s history.

In his first speech on Downing Street, Sir Keir pledged to usher in an era marked by “stability and moderation” as he told voters: “My Government will serve you” whether or not they backed his party.

After a low turnout at the polls, he spoke of the need to rebuild trust in the political system following 14 years of Tory rule marred by the Partygate scandal and the chaos of Conservative infighting.

Labour’s vote share also suggests the new Government is unlikely to enjoy much of a honeymoon period, with around 34% of the electorate backing the party – less than Jeremy Corbyn secured in 2017.

A recount in the last seat left to formally declare – Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire – started at 10.30am – delaying the final result of the General Election.