FORMER Better Together chief Blair McDougall has been given a Government job in the aftermath of Keir Starmer’s Cabinet reshuffle.
The former campaign director of the Unionist campaign in the 2014 independence referendum has been appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade.
It comes after Starmer reshuffled his top team after his deputy Angela Rayner quit, admitting she had underpaid stamp duty on her second home.
McDougall’s appointment came amid a raft of promotions for the 2024 intake of new Labour MPs.
Others given new jobs on Sunday were:
- Chris Elmore as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Foreign Office
- Josh MacAlister as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education
- Olivia Bailey as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education
- Kate Dearden as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Business and Trade
- Kanishka Narayan as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- Anna McMorrin as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Wales Office
- Matthew Patrick as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Northern Ireland Office
- Katie White as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Satvir Kaur has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office but because she is currently on maternity leave, her position will be covered by Josh Simons.
Simons sparked controversy during his time as director of the influential think tank Labour Together by suggesting that people smugglers should be put on a barge and shipped “up to the north of Scotland”.
The reshuffle aftermath has also seen the departure of employment rights Justin Madders from the Government. He was one of the architects of Labour’s “new deal for working people”, creating concerns that the Government would water-down its raft of workers’ rights policies.
Responding to speculation Starmer may moderate his reforms, Madders said: “Let’s hope these fears are unfounded because it would be really, really foolish for the Government to row back on key manifesto commitments that are popular with the public and will show what a positive difference a Labour Government can make.”
