David Lammy MP has been appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, becoming the first black person to hold that role.
Lammy, who was previously foreign secretary, replaces Shabana Mahmood as justice secretary, who has been named home secretary. Lammy has also been appointed deputy prime minister. UK Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer KC announced his first cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of previous deputy Angela Rayner last week over her tax affairs.
Lammy, who is dual-qualified at the Bar of England and Wales and the New York Bar, was called to the Bar in 1994. Like his predecessor Mahmood, he has worked as an in-house barrister, in his case at legacy commercial firm DJ Freeman, now part of Troutman Pepper Locke.
Following his election, he was an associate tenant at Doughty Street Chambers until he was appointed foreign secretary after the 2024 general election, having previously served as shadow Lord Chancellor in opposition from 2020 onwards.
Lammy previously led a 2017 review of how race is treated in the criminal justice system, proposing reforms that were not adopted by the then-Conservative government, and is an advocate for greater judicial diversity.
Lammy is the 10th Lord Chancellor in as many years, including Dominic Raab’s two stints in the office, posing a challenge to those who have valued continuity in office and in policy, especially following multiple appointments under both the Coalition and the Conservatives. Previous incumbent Mahmood was sworn in back in July 2024 as the first Asian woman and first Muslim to hold the role.
Lammy will be sworn in at a ceremony in the Lady Chief Justice’s court, where his initial remarks will be scrutinised, especially as he now also serves as deputy prime minister – a distinction he shares with Raab. However, he will be eager to surpass Raab’s performance in the position, following the latter’s ignominious departure from office amid bullying accusations.
Chair of the Bar Barbara Mills KC said the UK justice system faced many challenges that required “urgent attention to restore trust and confidence”.
She said: “Having worked with him in opposition when he was shadow Lord Chancellor, we are looking forward to working with David Lammy again on the government’s justice agenda, which must deliver reform that is realistic, evidence-based, cost-effective and sustainable.”
Joining Lammy is fellow barrister Baroness Alison Levitt KC, who replaces Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede as the Lords’ justice minister. Levitt, a former circuit judge until last year, resigned to take a peerage in the House of Lords, a rare example of a judge choosing to leave the Bench for politics.
Levitt moved in-house to Mishcon de Reya 11 years ago, leaving the DPP’s office to found and head the white-collar crime group before returning to private practice at the Bar, joining 2 Hare Court in 2018 before becoming a judge in 2021.
Levitt was called to the Bar by Inner Temple in 1988. She became a Recorder in 2007 and a QC, now KC, in 2008. Following 20 years in private practice, she was headhunted to become principal legal advisor to Starmer as director of public prosecutions, where she worked for five years at the Crown Prosecution Service.
She is a former chair of the Young Bar, former Secretary of the Criminal Bar Association, and is a past chair of education and training for her Inn of Court, Inner Temple, where she was a governing bencher.
Also on the move is the Solicitor-General Lucy Rigby KC MP, who becomes Economic Secretary to the Treasury, a key role working alongside the chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Rigby, a solicitor, is replaced in the Solicitor-General role by another barrister, Ellie Reeves MP, who previously practised employment law in-house for her own discrimination law consultancy and for trade union law firm Thompsons.
Reeves, the younger sister of Rachel Reeves, is the third woman to hold the role since Rigby was appointed in December 2024. She previously served as shadow Solicitor-General from April 2020 to December 2021.
She will speak on behalf of Attorney-General Lord Hermer KC in the House of Commons, and will be appointed as King’s Counsel in holding the role of deputy chief legal adviser to the government, having been moved from Labour Party chair in the same reshuffle.
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