Andy Burnham’s business secretary left squirming in toe-curling moment | Politics | News

Andy Burnham’s new Business Secretary was left livid for not naming Cabinet members with experience of running a business. Jonathan Reynolds, who replaced Peter Kyle in the new Prime Minister reshuffle, said members of Burnham’s senior team worked in the private sector but he could not say whether any of them had run a firm.

During an awkward encounter with Daily Express columnist Nick Ferrari on LBC, the presenter asked Mr Reynolds: “How many people in the cabinet actually run businesses?” The Labor politician, most recently Sir Keir Starmer’s chief whip, replied: “Let me be clear, I haven’t actually confirmed the full Cabinet line-up yet so I can’t give you that specific figure.” When pressed again by Ferrari, Mr Reynold replied: “To be honest… I could certainly talk about a lot of people working in the private sector but the point is that you are judged by what you do.

“And I’ve seen a lot of people, I’ve shadowed a lot of business secretaries, and I know I can do the job. I know I can do a job for business and for the country.”

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith shared the interview clip about X and said: “The Business Secretary cannot name ONE person in cabinet who runs a business!

“The Labor Party prefers career politicians, unionists and activists to entrepreneurs.

“How can the business world trust people who don’t understand business?”

Mr Reynolds appeared on LBC on Tuesday morning, hours after he was named by Mr Burnham to his new-look cabinet on Monday night.

More than half the outgoing Prime Minister’s cabinet has been sacked or demoted as the former Greater Manchester mayor promises the biggest change in British politics in 40 years.

It was among the significant changes when Mr Reynolds returned as Business Secretary, having previously held the post from July 2024 until September last year.