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| Purnell heads reshuffle changes | Purnell heads reshuffle changes |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| James Purnell has been appointed work and pensions secretary in the reshuffle following the resignation of Peter Hain from the cabinet. | |
| Mr Purnell, 37, is expected to be succeeded as culture secretary by 38-year-old Andy Burnham. | Mr Purnell, 37, is expected to be succeeded as culture secretary by 38-year-old Andy Burnham. |
| His chief secretary to the Treasury job is expected to go to Yvette Cooper, with Caroline Flint succeeding her as housing minister. | His chief secretary to the Treasury job is expected to go to Yvette Cooper, with Caroline Flint succeeding her as housing minister. |
| Paul Murphy is to succeed Mr Hain as Secretary of State for Wales. | |
| Pensions | Pensions |
| As culture secretary Mr Purnell oversaw several high-profile projects, including the successful bid for London's Olympics in 2012, the switch from analogue to digital television, and the renewal of the BBC's charter. | |
| POLITICAL APPOINTMENTS Work and Pensions Secretary: James PurnellCulture Secretary: Andy BurnhamChief Secretary to the Treasury: Yvette CooperHousing Minister: Caroline FlintSecretary of State for Wales: Paul Murphy Profile: James Purnell class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7207710.stm">Profile: Andy Burnham class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7207829.stm">In full: Brown's reshuffle | |
| Before that, he was pensions minister in the Department for Work and Pensions - which he now heads - working on the development of a national pensions saving scheme. | Before that, he was pensions minister in the Department for Work and Pensions - which he now heads - working on the development of a national pensions saving scheme. |
| For the Conservatives, shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling congratulated Mr Purnell on his appointment, saying he hoped he would "be able to take a firm grip on a department that is clearly losing its way". | For the Conservatives, shadow work and pensions secretary Chris Grayling congratulated Mr Purnell on his appointment, saying he hoped he would "be able to take a firm grip on a department that is clearly losing its way". |
| Mr Purnell faced embarrassment last year when it emerged an NHS trust had superimposed a picture of him into a promotional photograph. | Mr Purnell faced embarrassment last year when it emerged an NHS trust had superimposed a picture of him into a promotional photograph. |
| He will not be taking on Mr Hain's second job as Welsh secretary, which goes to Paul Murphy. | |
| Brown allies | |
| In other changes, Yvette Cooper will join her husband Ed Balls in the cabinet by succeeding Mr Burnham as chief secretary to the treasury - a job Mr Balls himself held until June last year. Caroline Flint becomes the housing minister. | |
| Among the junior ministerial ranks, Tom Watson - who quit the government in September 2006 after an "attempted coup" against then-Prime Minister Tony Blair - returns as parliamentary secretary at the Cabinet Office. | |
| There is also a promotion for another Brown ally, Baroness Vadera, who becomes under secretary of state at the department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. | |
| Immigration minister Liam Byrne is given an additional role at as a junior minister at the Treasury, boosting his efforts to clamp down on illegal working and migration. |