The Independent has analysed Andy Burnham's newly appointed cabinet, comparing its make-up to that of his predecessor, Sir Keir Starmer, following Monday's reshuffle. Burnham handed top jobs to John Healey, Shabana Mahmood, Louise Haigh and Ed Miliband, while purging Starmer loyalists including David Lammy, Darren Jones and Rachel Reeves, signalling a shift towards more traditional Labour figures and priorities.

– Private schooling: nine of Burnham's cabinet ministers were privately educated, compared with just two (Lisa Nandy and Douglas Alexander) under Starmer.
– Women: a record 12 of 23 full cabinet members are women, outnumbering men for the first time, up from 10 of 23 under Starmer.
– Ethnic diversity: three of 28 eligible attendees are non-white (Miatta Fahnbulleh, Shabana Mahmood, Kanishka Narayan), up from two, though still below levels under Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss.
– Left-wing figures: Louise Haigh and Angela Rayner return to more senior roles, alongside Ed Miliband's promotion to the foreign office.
– Experience: 19 of Burnham's top team have prior cabinet experience, versus 15 under Starmer's final cabinet.