Key facts
- Wes Streeting appointed UK Defence Secretary under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
- Streeting previously served as Health Secretary and resigned from Keir Starmer's government.
- Dan Jarvis was the predecessor as Defence Secretary.
- Yvette Cooper appointed Health Secretary.
- Defence spending targets include 2.5% of GDP by April 2027, 3% in the next Parliament, and 3.5% by 2035.
- Annual military support to Ukraine is £3 billion.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appointed Wes Streeting as the United Kingdom's new Defence Secretary, marking a significant return to cabinet for the former Health Secretary. Streeting resigned from Keir Starmer's government earlier this year and subsequently endorsed Burnham's successful bid to become Prime Minister.
Streeting takes over the Ministry of Defence from Dan Jarvis, who had a brief tenure following John Healey's resignation. He inherits the Defence Investment Plan, which translates the 2025 Strategic Defence Review into concrete commitments. His immediate tasks include overseeing the delivery of this plan and defending its funding.
Yvette Cooper will replace Streeting as Health Secretary. Streeting's political background includes leadership roles in the National Union of Students and eleven years as a Member of Parliament, alongside his experience leading the government's NHS reform programme.
The new Defence Secretary faces a challenging fiscal environment, with the former Defence Secretary, John Healey, now appointed Chancellor by Burnham, potentially creating a dynamic over defence spending. Commitments include increasing defence expenditure to 2.5% of GDP by April 2027, rising to 3% in the next Parliament and 3.5% by 2035, alongside continued annual military support of £3 billion to Ukraine.