Original title: Starmer shakes up No 10 team - but what is he hoping to achieve?
Why Starmer wants No 10 rejig after a year in power 14 hours ago Share Save Henry Zeffman Chief Political Correspondent Share Save Getty Images Many of the names involved in Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street shake-up are not even household names in Westminster. But the latest moves, announced on Monday as MPs return to Parliament, are a big deal for several reasons. First, in terms of organisational innovation. If you’re struggling to recall who was Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister before Darren Jones, the answer is that there wasn’t one. The role is a new creation, designed to give Sir Keir Starmer firmer command of the government machine he has complained is sluggish and unwieldy. Bringing an MP into the heart of Downing Street’s operations is unusual, if not completely unprecedented - the Conservative MP Steve Barclay was Boris Johnson’s chief of staff in his final months as prime minister. Clearer structures For all that innovation, these latest moves are also partly about est