‘It’s genius’: Why two of Keir Starmer’s Labour cabinet are not MPs

In brief...

• Keir Starmer's Labour front bench includes James Timpson, ex-CEO of Timpsons, appointed as Minister of State for Prisons, Parole, and Probation, despite not being an MP.
• Timpson's expertise, particularly in employing former offenders, and Patrick Vallance's scientific background, influenced their appointments over Labour MPs.
• Non-MP appointments like Timpson's and Vallance's, while bringing valuable expertise, could cause potential internal issues within the government.

On Keir Starmer's Labour front bench is a man who ran a shoe business.

OK, that's selling James Timpson a bit short. He's the now-former CEO of Timpsons, which owns shoe and watch repairs, dry cleaning and engraving outlets across the UK.

But he's not an MP. He has no constituents. When Starmer announced his cabinet, Timpson was selected alongside members of parliament such as Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband, appointed to the role of Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probation.

Timpsons is the biggest employer of former offenders in the UK, and before being appointed to cabinet, had said he believed only a third of people behind bars in this country should be there.

Timpson is not the only minister who isn't an MP. Sir Patrick John Thompson Vallance, Boris Johnson's former Chief Scientific Adviser (and regular face during televised Covid-19 briefings during the pandemic) is also on the front bench. He now serves as Minister of State for Science in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.

So how, and why, did these people secure these jobs over any of the other 412 Labour MPs in the House of Commons?

The answer is fairly simple – it's for their expertise.

As Emily Maitlis explains, this isn't the first time non-MPs have landed these top jobs. In Rishi Sunak's government David Cameron served as Foreign Secretary, stepping down from the role after the July election result.

She explains that these appointments may have been motivated by the findings of the Commission for Smart Government, an independent initiative which works to consider how to make public administration more effective.

"It was basically an independent body tasked with examining ways of making the machinery of government more effective," she says.

"One of the questions that we're always asking is how can you bring somebody into the fold for their talent, but still make them accountable if they do not have a constituency position, or an MP's role?"

Since taking up his role on the front bench, James Timpson has stepped down from his CEO position at Timpsons, which he'd worked as since 2002.

But while Emily describes Timpson's appointment as "genius", she also says it's possible to "feel two things at once" about people who are not MPs landing such important roles, ahead of people elected by voters.

"With Patrick Vallance, it's brilliant to have a scientist at the heart of government, brilliant to have all the expertise, somebody who's been through a pandemic," she says.

"But you can have all that expertise and think that's a really exciting thing to do and feel like you shouldn't necessarily be parachuting people into the Lords the whole time, because it sort of creates a bad precedent."

Lewis agrees, saying appointments like these could potentially cause internal problems for a Prime Minister.

"There are only 120 ministerial posts, and they have a lot of MPs who are very keen, because they think they've done the hard yards, they've been selected,” he adds.

These sorts of appointments are a more common practice in US politics, Lewis Goodall continues, stating that the only way to achieve it on this side of the Atlantic is to "parachute them into the House of Lords."

Both Patrick Vallance and James Timpson will receive a peerage and become members of the House of Lords.

But it's not always an easy transition for people with no experience in politics, to suddenly take on a senior, and important, role in government.

"Often a lot of these people who have advised ministers, and have been part of the civil service in some way on the outside, can struggle to make the transition into political life for all sorts of different reasons," says Lewis.

Already, Vallance has criticised Brexit and called for visa rules to be relaxed, blaming the UK leaving the EU for a lack of talent being attracted to this country.

The Home Office, however, swiftly shut down his comments saying that lowering visa fees was not government policy.

His comments were made as he shared his hopes for the UK to become a "reliable partner" for the international science community.

Timpson has described his appointment as a "real privilege" and said he is "looking forward to improving the system for hard-working staff, turning more lives around and cutting crime."

Listen to the discussion in full on The News Agents.