KEIR Starmer's newest Chief Secretary has addressed suggestions of an early general election following Angela Rayner’s resignation and potential internal Labour splits.
Darren Jones, a Labour rising star who was only days ago appointed to the new position of the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, has also taken over the brief of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
A junior ministerial reshuffle is expected following Starmer’s Cabinet shake-up, taking place on Saturday, it is understood.
Speaking to media on Saturday morning, Jones denied there was instability in the Labour Government and said it was “quite normal” for administrations to have a reshuffle around this time.
Asked whether he understood that reshuffle could be seen by voters as a sign of instability, he told BBC Breakfast: “It’s not instability insofar as the outcomes that we’re delivering are the same.”
He added: “Look, I think it’s quite normal for governments to have a reshuffle about this time coming into government.”
And when asked about Reform UK leader Nigel Farage’s suggestion of the previous week's news to prompt a general election as early as 2027, he told Sky News: “Nigel Farage is wrong there.
“The Labour Party is not going to split and there won’t be an early election.”
Starmer had wanted to carry out his reshuffle on a “slightly slower timetable”, but it was “brought forward as a consequence of the former deputy prime minister resigning”, Jones said.
After it was put to Jones that the Government was in crisis and “ripping it all up and starting again”, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told Sky News: “No – so, I came into work on Monday after the summer recess.
“I was put into this new role as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. I’ve been alongside him this week in Number 10 and the Prime Minister was very clear on Monday that coming back into this new term, this was the start of the second chapter of the Labour Government.”
He added: “The fact is, the Prime Minister had been planning to do a reshuffle on a slightly slower timetable, and started to think about putting the ministers he wanted in the places to really drive on delivering reform in line with the public’s priorities.
“And that was accelerated and brought forward as a consequence of the former deputy prime minister resigning.”
