UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled his new Cabinet, with three Indian-origin Labour MPs getting important roles in the government, as the new team takes shape at Westminster.
Kanishka Narayan has been brought into the Cabinet as Minister for Artificial Intelligence. Satvir Kaur and Harpreet Uppal have also been given government positions.
The reshuffle has further increased the presence of Indian-origin lawmakers on the Labour government’s front bench. Uma Kumaran, a Hindu MP of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage, has also been appointed as a junior minister at the Foreign Office. With her appointment, the front bench now has two Hindu and two Sikh ministers.
But the reshuffle has also seen some familiar faces leave government.
Seema Malhotra, who was the Indo-Pacific minister, and Preet Kaur Gill, who previously served as a junior health minister, have both returned to the backbenches. Both had been considered close allies of former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Lisa Nandy, whose father was born in Kolkata, has kept her Cabinet position and will continue as Culture Secretary.
Kanishka Narayan
Kanishka Narayan is the Labour MP for Vale of Glamorgan, a seat he won in 2024 after defeating the Conservative incumbent Alun Cairns.
Narayan was born in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, and moved to Cardiff with his family when he was 12. He grew up in modest circumstances and, at one point, lived in a one-bedroom home where he slept on the floor.
He later studied at Eton College, Oxford University and Stanford University.
Before entering politics, Narayan worked as a civil servant. His previous roles included working in the Cabinet Office under former prime minister David Cameron and in the Environment Department under Liz Truss.
Narayan had earlier served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Under Burnham, he has now been promoted to Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence. He will work across the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
Satvir Kaur
Satvir Kaur represents Southampton Test and was first elected to Parliament in July 2024. Her parents are originally from Punjab and ran a saree shop in Southampton. Kaur is the youngest of five children. She studied History and Politics before going on to study Law in Southampton.
She has now been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Minister for Equalities at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
At the same time, she will serve as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office. Her responsibilities will include safeguarding, violence against women and girls, and equalities.
Kaur previously worked as Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office from September 2025 to July 2026.
She took maternity leave from September 2025 to February 2026 after the birth of her first child in August 2025. She later returned to her government duties.
Harpreet Uppal
Harpreet Uppal, the Labour MP for Huddersfield, has been given the role of Assistant Whip. Whips are responsible for managing parliamentary business and making sure MPs turn up for important votes and follow the party line when voting.
Her political career began before she entered Parliament. Uppal served as a councillor on Kirklees Council from May 2018 to May 2022, representing the Ashbrow ward. During that time, she also chaired the Economy and Neighbourhood Scrutiny Panel.
Uppal also has a long-standing connection with Andy Burnham. She worked on his campaign to become Mayor of Manchester in 2017, and Burnham later backed her own campaign to enter Parliament.
Lisa Nandy stays on as Culture Secretary
Lisa Nandy has kept her Cabinet position under UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, although her role has been expanded.
Nandy remains Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Her responsibilities will now also include digital industries after Burnham scrapped the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and brought the digital portfolio back under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
Nandy is the Labour MP for Wigan and has held the culture brief for more than two years. That makes her the longest-serving culture secretary since Jeremy Hunt left the post in 2012. She is also one of the few Cabinet ministers to have kept the same job she held under former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Nandy is the daughter of Dipak Nandy, who came from Kolkata, and Luise Byers, who is British. This makes her, along with Kanishka Narayan, one of two Indian-origin figures in Burnham’s new Cabinet.
Her decision to stay in the role is also significant because of the frequent changes at DCMS. The department has had nine Secretaries of State since 2019.