After becoming Prime Minister on Monday, July 20, Andy Burnham has made several surprising cabinet appointments that could have impacts on the future of LGBTQ+ rights and trans healthcare in the UK.

Perhaps most prominently, Wes Streeting has been appointed Defence Secretary, despite never having held a foreign-facing position. Streeting served as the Health Secretary under Burnham’s predecessor, Keir Starmer, but in May he resigned and became the first senior minister to call for Starmer’s resignation. 

As Health Secretary, he permanently banned the prescription of puberty blockers for under-18s with gender dysphoria, telling MPs he was “uncomfortable” with minors availing of such treatment. He also approved a study recommended by the highly criticised Cass Review that is set to analyse the effect of puberty blockers through clinical trials. 

Assuming the position, he says he wants to maximise value and cut waste, ensuring “every penny is spent wisely”. It is expected that there will be an increase in defence spending, and Streeting said added investment must come with “modernisation”.

He has previously acknowledged Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, and the UK’s moral and legal responsibility to respond.

Elsewhere, Yvette Cooper will be taking over the role of Health Secretary, making her the third person to fill the position since May.  

Cooper was an active and vocal supporter of same-sex marriage, sponsoring the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act of 2013. In 2015, she said the Labour Party would look into the creation of gender-neutral passports for those who do not identify as male or female. The Labour Party lost the general election in 2015, and with that halted the possibility of these passports. 

“There’s a whole series of issues around the way the law currently affects intersex and trans people,” Cooper said in 2015.

Her appointment to Burnham’s cabinet comes at a tumultuous time for trans rights and healthcare in the UK, following the aforementioned ban on puberty blockers and the upcoming implementation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)’s guidance on single-sex spaces. Bridget Phillipson, who oversaw the guidance, remains in her role as Minister for Women and Equalities.

Burnham also announced that Sir Chris Bryant will be taking over as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, replacing Hilary Benn.

Bryant was forced to come out after pictures were leaked by the press in 2003, and became the first gay MP to have a civil partnership ceremony inside the Palace of Westminster in March 2010. He left his former life as an Anglican priest in order to live his life openly as a gay man.

Since then he has been one of the longest-standing MPs, joining Parliament in 2001 and holding a host of prominent positions, most recently Minister for Trade. He is expected to finish Benn’s talks with Stormont parties and Treasury officials to agree to a multi-year budget.