Defence Secretary Healey outlasts all Starmer colleagues
JOHN Healey is the last man standing.
Of all the senior figures PM Keir Starmer picked for his first shadow cabinet in 2020, only one is still in the same job.
Healey has kept hold of the defence brief.
Others have been moved, promoted, or quietly side-lined.
In July 2024, he moved from shadow defence into the real role — Secretary of State — and has been unshaken by every re-shuffle.
The 65-year-old MP for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough is a veteran of multiple Labour governments.
He served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown in Treasury, housing, and local government.
That experience has given him knowledge and credibility that few in the Cabinet can match.
As the Guardian put it, Healey is “a veteran politician known for his consistency and pragmatism” who “enjoys the confidence of Keir Starmer.”
It is that steadiness which explains why he remains trusted with the country’s most sensitive brief.
He has not shied away from difficult truths.
In October, he said the UK is "Very skilled and ready to conduct military operations. What we’ve not been ready to do is to fight.”
That honesty has earned him credibility at home and abroad.
Internationally, Healey has been super-active.
At NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington, for example, he met US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Germany’s Boris Pistorius.
Soon after, a new Anglo-German pact on defence industry co-operation, reconnecting Britain’s sector with European partners post-Brexit, was announced.
At home, he has made tough calls.
Ageing navy vessels and helicopters are being decommissioned, freeing £500m for reinvestment.
He told reporters: “This is a government whose commitment to defence is unshakeable.”
Looking ahead, Healey faces recruitment gaps, ageing equipment, and stretched budgets.
Critics call him cautious, expedient, even dull, which seems a bit harsh.
But in defence, caution is an asset – stability and sober judgment outweigh flash.
The PM clearly believes Healey’s measured approach is exactly what the post demands.
Five years on from Starmer’s first shadow cabinet, every other original member has been moved.
Only Healey remains in place, maintaining continuity in a job where mistakes carry real consequences.
He is, indisputably, the last man standing.