KEIR Starmer has brought back a former adviser in Tony Blair's government as part of a mini-reshuffle of the UK Cabinet.
Tim Allan, who worked as Blair's director of communications between 1992 and 1998, has been named as the Labour Government's executive director of communications.
Allan is also the founder of Portland, a lobbying firm which has represented Russia, Qatar and Kazakhstan, as reported by The Times.
His appointment is one of several which were announced on Monday as MPs returned from summer recess.
Darren Jones – formerly chief secretary to the Treasury – has been appointed as chief secretary to the Prime Minister, a new ministerial role in which he will attend Cabinet.
Downing Street said Jones will be based at No 10 and “directly oversee work across the UK Government to support the delivery of the Prime Minister’s priorities”.
Treasury minister James Murray will replace Jones as Treasury chief secretary, effectively acting as Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s deputy.
Chipping Barnet MP Dan Tomlinson has replaced Murray as Treasury exchequer secretary.
Starmer has also recruited Minouche Shafik, a life peer, economist, and former president of Columbia University in New York, as his chief economic adviser.
Shafik’s recruitment is reported to be part of a move to build economic expertise within the UK Government ahead of the Autumn Budget, when Reeves is expected to make tough tax and spending decisions.
The new adviser has also been deputy governor of the Bank of England and permanent secretary at the Department for International Development, a now-scrapped UK Government department.
Nin Pandit, the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary, will take on a new post in September leading on the delivery of key priorities in No 10.
Daniel York-Smith has been appointed to replace her within No 10.
The announcements come after a string of high-profile departures in less than a year, after the exit of chief of staff Sue Gray last October, and communications director Matthew Doyle in March.
The National also reported how Starmer faced calls for a "regime change" back in June over proposed cuts to the welfare system.
There have been rumours that junior ministers would face a reshuffle once MPs returned from their summer recess.
However, UK Government insiders had said no reshuffle will take place, at least in the first week of September.
