Who is James Murray, the new health secretary replacing Wes Streeting?

"At the age of 42, James Murray, the Labour and Co-operative MP for Ealing North, now has one of the biggest jobs in government. The new health secretary is one of the least divisive figures in government, and arguably one of the least publicly tested. He has not run a major Whitehall department before and has never had a particularly visible public media profile, although since Labour came into power his appearances in the media have increased."

"Murray increasingly looks like a test case for the wider Starmer project itself: a generation of loyal, managerial Labour politicians elevated once Starmer became Labour leader. Born and raised in west London, where his mother was a Labour councillor, Murray studied PPE at Oxford before working for Emily Thornberry and then moving into local government in Islington."

"When he entered parliament in 2019, he quietly embedded himself inside the Labour opposition operation, serving on the health and social care select committee before later heading into the shadow Treasury office. One Labour MP joked that Murray had become health secretary by being one of the few people nobody hates."

"His voting record reflects his loyalty too. Murray has consistently backed ministers on some of the government's most controversial legislation, in"

James Murray, Labour and Co-operative MP for Ealing North, has replaced Wes Streeting as health secretary at age 42. He has spent much of his parliamentary career aligning with party positions, avoiding headlines, and building credibility as a dependable cabinet colleague. He has not previously run a major Whitehall department and has had limited public media visibility, though media appearances increased after Labour came into power. Murray has moved through shadow whips and Treasury roles under Keir Starmer and is the highest-ranking figure from Labour’s 2019 intake. His background includes west London upbringing, PPE study at Oxford, work for Emily Thornberry, local government in Islington, and deputy mayor for housing under Sadiq Khan, where he managed affordable housing and negotiated firmly. In parliament, he served on the health and social care select committee and later the shadow Treasury office, with a voting record reflecting consistent support for controversial government legislation.

Read at www.theguardian.com