Andy Burnham has removed Ed Miliband as energy secretary in his first cabinet reshuffle since becoming prime minister, appointing first-term Labour MP Miatta Fahnbulleh to the post. Miliband, who often clashed with the North Sea sector over his opposition to new oil and gas licences and his support for the windfall tax, moves to Foreign Secretary.
Fahnbulleh was chief executive of the New Economics Foundation before entering Parliament, where she pushed for a rapid net zero transition. She holds a PhD in economic development from the London School of Economics and was a senior economic advisor to Angela Rayner and Miliband during the 2024 election campaign. In 2019 she called for a "global Green New Deal," writing that reaching net zero within 10 to 15 years would require government investment in onshore and offshore wind, smart energy grids, carbon capture and storage, and worker training for green jobs. On Nick Robinson's Political Thinking podcast, she accused Green Party leader Zack Polanski of taking her vision for a greener, fairer economy. She called the appointment an "incredible honour" on X.
Speaking outside Downing Street, Burnham said he is "the sixth person in the last 10 years" to hold the office and pledged what he called "a new economic model," one meant to put "life's essentials back under stronger public control."
Industry pushes for licensing changes
Russell Borthwick, chief executive of the Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said the North Sea holds "huge remaining potential" and urged Burnham's government to clear what he called a "regulatory logjam." He called for consenting the Jackdaw and Rosebank developments, replacing the windfall tax with the planned Oil and Gas Revenue Levy, and a more pragmatic approach to issuing new licences. On renewables, he asked for faster consenting of projects and transmission infrastructure build-out.
Burnham's team had briefed that he would take a friendlier line on North Sea oil and gas than his predecessor. His choice of Fahnbulleh, a longstanding net-zero advocate who has called for more investment in retrofitting and renewable-energy jobs, pointed the other way.
