9 May 2026

Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown return to government

Keir Starmer attempts to shore up his government

Keir Starmer has appointed two Labour grandees to government advisory roles as he attempts to shore up his position after the local elections. Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister, becomes Special Envoy for Global Finance, while Harriet Harman, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, becomes Starmer’s Adviser on Women and Girls.

This is the first part of a political fightback that was prepared in advance of Thursday’s elections (because No 10 knew that a terrible result was coming and that political consolidation would be required if the PM were to survive the blowback).

The immediate reaction from some Labour MPs was not greatly enthusiastic – a moderate immediately got in touch after I tweeted the news to ask “Is this real?”

“It’s almost parody,” was the opinion of one loyalist in response to the notion that appointing more advisers could shore up Labour’s perilous position.

A view I picked up this morning is that while Labour MPs believe violence against women and girls is an important issue, they see no evidence that it was a major issue in Labour’s electoral drubbing and the ministers currently carrying that brief are already considered to be quite effective.

Brown is held in high regard by many MPs and we wait to see how broad-ranging his role will be. A famous workaholic, he will likely try to take on as broad a range of responsibilities as possible now that he is back in government. But comparisons with Rishi Sunak’s decision to revive David Cameron’s career in the dying days of the Tory government have already circulated. “I really like Gordon and I’m excited for what he will do, but it’s not screaming new, fresh direction,” said one MP.

In fairness, No 10 would say that the announcements were not primarily made to win over the public but instead to bring on board experienced politicians who can help with delivery – it is still the view of Starmer and his advisors that they are on the right track but need to show greater signs of political change and economic prosperity.