FORMER Scotland in Union chief Pamela Nash has been given a top job in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) following Keir Starmer’s Cabinet reshuffle.
The MP for Motherwell and Wishaw is among a number of Scottish Labour politicians appointed as a parliamentary private secretary (PPS).
A PPS is appointed by a minister to be an assistant and acts as the “eyes and ears” of the minister in the House of Commons. It is an unpaid job.
Nash played a leading role in the pro-Union pressure group since it was established in 2015.
She previously came under criticism for urging Scottish voters to vote tactically for the Tories during the 2022 local council elections. Nash warned that “pro-separation” councillors would be focused on a push for indyref2. The group launched the campaign “Vote 1,2,3, to stop the SNP”.
Starmer was forced to reshuffle his top team after Angela Rayner resigned after an investigation found she had breached the ministerial code over her tax affairs.
Elsewhere, Gordon McKee (below), MP for Glasgow South, was appointed PPS to the Department of Work and Pensions, while Melanie Ward, MP for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, was given the role at the Department of Justice.
Frank McNally MP, Coatbridge and Bellshill, and Alison Taylor MP, Paisley and Renfrewshire North, will serve as PPS’s in the Scotland Office.
Alan Gemmell, MP for Central Ayrshire, will serve as PPS in the Foreign Office.
A Labour spokesperson said: “We have appointed an expanded team of PPSs to support ministers in this delivery, to work right across our Parliamentary Labour Party to ensure these bills are as strong as possible and to build direct links between the vital work being done by Labour MPs in constituencies across the country and Whitehall Departments, including Number 10.
“The new team draws on the strength and talent right across the Party, bringing voices from every region and nation into the heart of government to deliver for working people in Britain:”
See the full list of appointments below.
10 Downing Street
Catherine Fookes
Abena Oppong-Asare
Jon Pearce
Treasury
Helena Dollimore
Kirith Entwistle
Alistair Strathern
Cabinet Office
Claire Hazelgrove
Naushabah Khan
Alice Macdonald
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Catherine Atkinson
Jessica Toale
Home Office
Sarah Coombes
Alan Gemmell
Sally Jameson
Department for Business and Trade
Luke Charters
Jeevun Sandher
Marie Tidball
Department of Health and Social Care
Joe Morris
Steve Race
Rosie Wrighting
Ministry of Defence
Shaun Davies
Rachel Hopkins
Pamela Nash
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Andrew Pakes
Tom Rutland
Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government
Tom Hayes
Laura Kyrke-Smith
Harpreet Uppal
Department for Work and Pensions
Natalie Fleet
Gordon McKee
Ministry of Justice
James Frith
Joe Powell
Melanie Ward
Scotland Office
Frank McNally
Alison Taylor
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Callum Anderson
Preet Gill
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Jack Abbott
Lola McEvoy
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Anna Gelderd
Connor Rand
Wales Office
Becky Gittins
Attorney General’s Office
Alex Barros-Curtis
Kevin Bonavia
Department for Education
Emma Foody
Amanda Martin
Alan Strickland
Department for Transport
Liam Conlon
Julie Minns
Northern Ireland Office
Matt Rodda
Leader of the House of Commons
Leigh Ingham
Leader of the House of Lords
Paul Waugh
