Britain just cycled through its fifth PM within four years, and Andy Burnham's Cabinet purge packed 10 ministers off to backbench purgatory. Alex Norris, a non-lawyer and Nottingham North MP, grabbed the Lord Chancellor seat from David Lammy, making him the 10th person to occupy that chair within a decade.
Lammy, the first Black politician to helm both the foreign and justice portfolios, got axed after a tenure defined by deeply unpopular jury trial reforms that drew fierce pushback from the Bar Council and Law Society. Lord Hermer KC also got the boot, which landed awkwardly since Baroness Carr had publicly called him out days earlier for not defending a trial judge.
Ellie Reeves KC stepped up from Solicitor General to replace Hermer as AG, becoming the third person in that chair within two years. Shabana Mahmoud kept her Home Secretary gig, and Lammy's parting move was greenlighting Lynne Berry CBE to lead the Judicial Appointments Commission.
Lammy, the first Black politician to helm both the foreign and justice portfolios, got axed after a tenure defined by deeply unpopular jury trial reforms that drew fierce pushback from the Bar Council and Law Society. Lord Hermer KC also got the boot, which landed awkwardly since Baroness Carr had publicly called him out days earlier for not defending a trial judge.
Ellie Reeves KC stepped up from Solicitor General to replace Hermer as AG, becoming the third person in that chair within two years. Shabana Mahmoud kept her Home Secretary gig, and Lammy's parting move was greenlighting Lynne Berry CBE to lead the Judicial Appointments Commission.
