One week in and Andy Burnham's government is up and running. So who are the new ministers and what do Burnham's appointments tell us about how he wants to run his govt? Here's our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk top 6 takeaways - with @rebeccamckee.bsky.social and @philipnye.bsky.social 🧵...

Six things we learned from Andy Burnham’s government formation | Institute for Government

What do Andy Burnham’s cabinet choices reveal about the priorities and direction of his new government?

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

We've crunched the numbers on Burnham's new government to bring you up to speed with the new faces around the cabinet table, and what Burnham's choices tell us about how he wants to run his government. New from @meganbryer.bsky.social, @philipnye.bsky.social and I 👇👇

Six things we learned from Andy Burnham’s government formation | Institute for Government

What do Andy Burnham’s cabinet choices reveal about the priorities and direction of his new government?

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

I’ve now made a full-government version of this Of the 92 MPs in Burnham’s government, 11 represent constituencies in Greater Manchester The north west has 16 in total, equalling the number from London and Yorkshire and the Humber

Philip Nye@philipnye.bsky.social · 2w ago

One question that’s come up a couple of times: where do Andy Burnham’s new cabinet represent as MPs? The north west has been the big gainer, with seven cabinet ministers holding seats there – of whom, five are in Greater Manchester

It's been a busy week in government, and at the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk We've been keeping up with the key moves and announcements this week, so you don't have to Here's a round up of my top picks of analysis from my excellent colleagues 🧵

He wants to be adored – Burnham’s people-pleasing policy debut | Institute for Government

The Manchester Mill's Joshi Herrman joins the podcast team to explore Andy Burnham's first week as prime minister.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

New @instituteforgovernment.org.uk comment from me and @aliceolilly.bsky.social Burnham is right to identify parliament as a source of useful scrutiny rather than a problem to be managed, but fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words and should be backed by bigger changes.

Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government

Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

By my reckoning the median latitude of the cabinet has shifted north from Wolverhampton/Leicester to betwixt Sheffield and Knowsley ...

Philip Nye@philipnye.bsky.social · 2w ago

One question that’s come up a couple of times: where do Andy Burnham’s new cabinet represent as MPs? The north west has been the big gainer, with seven cabinet ministers holding seats there – of whom, five are in Greater Manchester

Good thread from @gavinfreeguard.com about the decision to split DSIT. It struggled with its ability to influence (esp. as digital centre of govt) across govt, hiring senior roles, and has just had a reorg with the move of GDS in 2024. But the new depts have big & more varied (& unrelated) briefs

Gavin Freeguard@gavinfreeguard.com · 2w ago

Incompatible systems. Different contractual terms. Working out how teams fit together. Turf wars over responsibilities. New arrangements bedding in. Stakeholders (again!) having to rebuild relationships. Etc Etc. Etc. Policy paralysis, delayed delivery, opportunity costs all the way down.

A landmark moment, as the cabinet reaches gender parity for the first time

Megan Bryer@meganbryer.bsky.social · 2w ago

Burnham’s cabinet is the first to achieve gender parity. And the Office for Equality and Opportunity will move to the MHCLG with Bridget Phillipson remaining in post as Minister for Women and Equalities. Here’s our IfG breakdown of what yesterday’s announcements mean for women in government … 🧵

Major machinery of govt changes including - finally! - the creation of an Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet Long overdue and excellent news that the Burnham govt has grasped this nettle questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-stat...

Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament

Information from UK Parliament on written questions & answers, written statements and daily reports.

questions-statements.parliament.uk

Andy Burnham is holding his first cabinet meeting as prime minister and there are a few new faces around the table. Key appointments were confirmed late yesterday, so we've updated our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk chart to show where we currently stand with ministerial appointments 👇

One question that’s come up a couple of times: where do Andy Burnham’s new cabinet represent as MPs? The north west has been the big gainer, with seven cabinet ministers holding seats there – of whom, five are in Greater Manchester

As cabinet appointments start to come in, a reminder that we (@instituteforgovernment.org.uk) hold a database of all ministerial appointments back to 1979 It's easy to look up all the previous holders of a post, all the roles someone has had etc: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ministers-da...

IfG Ministers Database | Institute for Government

Search our database of all government ministers since 1979.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Its a sad ending for Britain's first woman Chancellor (as Theresa May once said - hopefully not the last) as Rachel Reeves returns to the backbenches. But she bears a lot of the responsibility for the failures of the Starmer government. The biggest mistakes were before the 2024 election

The two ministers who have resigned today were both direct ministerial appointments (appointed to the Lords by Starmer to serve in government) As PM Starmer appointed ten of these - you can read more about these posts and how they're appointed in our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer

Direct ministerial appointments to the House of Lords | Institute for Government

If the prime minister wants to appoint a minister who is not a sitting MP or serving peer, they must ennoble them.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Hetan Shah@hetanshah.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is a real shame - Patrick Vallance has been a really excellent and committed Science Minister who knew the territory and took a strategic view. Big shoes to fill

Good news, and... One of the big positives in the Starmer govt’s approach was its move beyond a narrow focus on rough sleeping. Burnham should make sure this pledge sits within a broader prevention strategy - not simply drive more spending on poor-value temporary accommodation to meet the target

James Ball@jamesrball.com · 2w ago

Ending rough sleeping is a nice pledge to hear – but worth noting it's *much* easier to achieve than ending homelessness. We pretty much managed it during Covid, but things got worse again rapidly. www.bigissue.com/news/housing...

For updates on ministerial changes including 'the' IfG chart follow @rebeccamckee.bsky.social, @meganbryer.bsky.social & @philipnye.bsky.social who will be keeping a close eye on who's who and what this means in government www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/burn...

Burnham’s first reshuffle should resist a sweeping change of junior ministers | Institute for Government

Beyond refreshing his Cabinet, keeping most ministers in their current roles is Burnham’s best chance of getting things done in government.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Ahead of Burnham's first speech as PM here's the latest from @instituteforgovernment.org.uk on how he can hit the ground running ✅A 25 point plan for tackling the big issues in the civil service, centre of gvt, public services, constitutional reform and the skills he needs to show from the start

The next prime minister: How can Andy Burnham hit the ground running? | Institute for Government

A 25-point plan for Andy Burnham as he succeeds Keir Starmer in No.10.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Move increases the chances of a whole new ministerial team at MoJ, with Lammy widely expected to lose his role as justice secretary. The most damning thing is that by staying for two years, Timpson has become the longest serving prisons minister *for 15 years*. This level of turnover is so damaging!

No live blog from us today, instead we'll be bringing you expert insights and analysis from across the @instituteforgovernment.org.uk - starting with this from @cassiarowland.bsky.social who leads our work on criminal justice

Cassia Rowland@cassiarowland.bsky.social · 2w ago

The day’s first casualty: James Timpson resigns as prisons minister. This is a big surprise! Timpson had a long history as a prisons reformer before entering government and seen as one of Starmer’s more innovative & exciting appointments. He’s also delivered a big change programme in gov. So: why?

It's England's world cup semi-finals day. Forget team selection dilemmas and xG analysis. What you really want is a really nerdy deep-dive into football, pub opening hours, and what they tell you about the most important form of legislation that you may never have heard of. Let's go.

NEW REPORT: how to make a success of SEND reform Government needs to get off the sidelines and build a SEND system that makes it easier for schools, councils and health services to work together. Our new report sets out how 🧵

Joining up SEND | Institute for Government

How to begin fixing SEND by making the system more joined-up.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

There are risks to the 2031 Census because of challenges the ONS is still grappling with, the interim chair of the UK Stats Authority is to warn today, according to FT reporting www.ft.com/content/e99c...

NEW REPORT: How to deliver digital transformation in public services. Successive governments have looked to digital solutions for problems facing public services – with varying success. We’ve looked at past examples and drawn out 7 lessons for people working on future programmes:

How to deliver digital transformation in public services | Institute for Government

A practical guide to improve the design and delivery of digital transformation programmes in public services.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

With another prime minister being forced to resign it is worth looking at the role in the context of recent history Since Brown took power in 2007 there has been seven (soon to be eight) PMs - compare that to the previous 30 odd years where the UK had only 3 PMs @instituteforgovernment.org.uk

With Burnham's route to No10 looking far clearer, a lot more thought will be going into what he'll do once there. So @cathhaddon.bsky.social and I have set out for @instituteforgovernment.org.uk what prep for government involves & why it's harder for leadership contenders than opposition parties👇

Cath Haddon@cathhaddon.bsky.social · 2mo ago

With most of the focus on how Burnham might achieve the top job, there is little focus on how he might go about preparing for the job itself. So @jackworlidge.bsky.social and i have looked at how mid-term prep for govt compares www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/pr... 1/

A bit of a side note, today of all days, but @instituteforgovernment.org.uk analysis of yesteday's civil service staff numbers showed the civil service is *still* growing. FTE numbers were up almost 2,800 in Q1 2026 compared to Q4 2025. Very much continuing the trend of recent years

Defence secretary John Healey has just resigned over the govt's Defence Investment Plan, writing that it "falls well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time". We're getting our @instituteforgovernment.org.uk resignation chart fired back up..

4 quick thoughts on the King's Speech 1) It's BIG - 37 bills in the background briefing including carried over and draft bills Very unusual for a second parliamentary session - it's very unlikely all of these will end up on the statute book by the end of the session

NEW REPORT: the government claims that it wants public services to be more devolved, better integrated, and more focused on prevention With a raft of reform programmes now underway in services, are they on track to achieve those aims? www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publication/...

Devolution, integration, prevention: Do the government’s public service reform plans add up? | Institute for Government

There is a mismatch between the government's stated aims for public service reform and how departments are driving change.

instituteforgovernment.org.uk

Chinese agents must be discovering the pleasures of delayed responses, incorrectly applied exemptions and lengthy appeals

Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 5mo ago

Suspicions grow that China is exploiting FOI laws to gather UK security data ft.trib.al/Hw7QDve