Stephen Kinnock appointed Welsh Secretary as Burnham names new Cabinet
Mark Mansfield
Stephen Kinnock has been appointed Secretary of State for Wales as Prime Minister Andy Burnham completed his first Cabinet reshuffle, replacing Jo Stevens after two years in the role.
The Aberafan Maesteg MP is among several Welsh politicians to receive senior positions in Mr Burnham’s new administration. Sir Chris Bryant, the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, has also been promoted to Cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Mr Kinnock, who has represented his constituency since 2015, is the son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock and the husband of former Danish prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt. He succeeds Ms Stevens after previously serving as a minister under Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
Jo Stevens confirmed on Monday that she was leaving the Cabinet after Mr Burnham became Prime Minister following his Labour leadership victory.
In a statement on X, the Cardiff East MP described serving as Wales Secretary as “a privilege and an honour”.
She said that during her time in office Wales had secured what she described as the biggest budget settlement for public services since devolution, support for the steel industry, investment in the proposed Wylfa nuclear development, a £14 billion commitment for Welsh railways and the best local growth fund settlement of any UK nation.
Ms Stevens wished Mr Burnham and Mr Kinnock “the very best” in their new roles, adding that she looked forward to seeing them work alongside Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates.
Sir Chris Bryant’s appointment sees him take over the Northern Ireland brief from Hilary Benn, who announced he was standing down after two years in the post.
The Rhondda and Ogmore MP, a former Anglican priest and author, has represented constituencies in the south Wales valleys since 2001 and most recently served as a minister in the Department for Business and Trade.
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee paid tribute to Mr Benn for his work on UK-Ireland relations and the Troubles legacy framework, while Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson thanked him for his service despite political disagreements. SDLP leader Claire Hanna also praised his willingness to engage across party lines.
The appointments came as Mr Burnham unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the Cabinet inherited from Sir Keir Starmer. Former defence secretary John Healey was appointed Chancellor, Ed Miliband became Foreign Secretary and Louise Haigh was named First Secretary of State and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
‘Change’
Among those leaving Cabinet were Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Peter Kyle, Hilary Benn, Jo Stevens and Nick Thomas-Symonds. Jonathan Reynolds became Business Secretary with an expanded brief, while Wes Streeting returned to government as Defence Secretary.
In his first speech as Prime Minister, Mr Burnham promised the “biggest changes in the last 40 years”, pledging to help households with the cost of living, build more council homes and pursue what he described as a programme of “reindustrialising Britain”. He also promised to publish a 10-year plan for government later this year.
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Mawr ein braint.
Kinnock and Bryant are definitely on the gravy train.
S Kinnock esq. is Welsh in the same way Michael Gove is Scots!
The most positive way to look at this is to say that he isn’t Jo Stevens. I wonder if, in tribute to Burnham, we’ll see the emergence of Aberafan Maestegism.
Yes, there’s a new face in the Welsh Office with Stephen Kinnock, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Like father, like son? I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, but he did vote to deny Wales HS2 & Oxford- Cambridge consequentials, so you can understand my pessimism. Will he treat Wales with the contempt Kinnock senior showed during the 1979 devolution referendum and in the watering down of the powers devolved in 1997, or will he, unlike his father, genuinely turn over a new leaf and play a part in devolving criminal justice, policing, and the… Read more »
God help us if he’s anything like his father. Another MP parachuted into what used to be a safe labour seat.
Will he fight fior Wales?
I’ll reserve my opinion for a few months.
He will be awful. They all are. Good news for Plaid Cymru though as support for them will only grow when Mr Devolution Andy Burnham turns out to only support devovling power when it happens in England.
Burnham says he’s pro-devolution but them appoints Kinnock as Welsh Secretary. I’ve yet to hear Kinnock say one positive thing about devolution. A very disappointing start from Burnham.
Kinnock a BRITISH Labour MP replacing another BRITISH Labour MP in Jo Stevens = more colonisation of Cymru on the way.
Yep. A blow-in who thought the billions owed to Wales via HS2 were best spent in England.
My goodness me, I was feeling good when I heard that Jo Stevens was going, but being replaced by Kinnock is just as bad, if not worse. His behaviour towards Wales in the past says so much about his likely commitment to this job. He left the Welsh Affairs Committee in 2018 because he wanted to serve on other committees that interested him more. As far as I know, he has never said anything about Welsh culture or offered any vision for Wales. Finally, he speaks five languages. Yet, he speaks no Welsh even though his mother did and shows… Read more »