Pennycook and McMahon appointed housing and local government ministers

Sarah Sackman, a public law barrister at Matrix Chambers, has also been appointed Solicitor General.

Jim McMahon entered Parliament in 2015 as MP for Oldham West and Royton following a two-decade-long career in local government.

He was elected a councillor to Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council in 2003 and led the local authority from 2011 to 2016.

Commenting on his appointment, McMahon said he was "looking forward" to working with Angela Rayner and Matthew Pennycook and "to deliver the change the country voted for, and to serve with a sense of public duty".

Pennycook, who is the MP for Woolwich and Greenwich, has served as shadow housing minister since 2021 and has been an MP since 2015.

He spent five years as a Labour councillor for the Royal Borough of Greenwich between 2010 and 2015. He also served as a trustee of Greenwich Housing Rights and as a school governor at a primary school.

Commenting on his appointment on X, Pennycook said: "Tackling the housing crisis and boosting economic growth is integral to national renewal. Time to get to work."

Sarah Sackman, who became the MP for Finchley and Golders Green this month, was called to the bar in 2008 and specialises in public, planning, environmental, education, local government, election, rating and discrimination law.

She was a barrister at Francis Taylor Building from 2008 and 2021 before moving to Matrix Chambers.

Commenting on her appointment, Sackman said: "After 14 years of Conservative government we need to restore people's trust in the rule of law and in the integrity of politics.

"I am truly honoured to have been asked to serve as Solicitor General - it brings great responsibility.

"My constituents deserve to see change both on the ground in Finchley and Golders Green, and in the integrity of Westminster politics. It is now my job to help deliver both."

Shabana Mahmood has been named Lord Chancellor, while Richard Hermer KC has been appointed Attorney General.

Adam Carey