KINNOCK: Aberafan Maesteg MP becomes Welsh Secretary in Andy Burnham’s new cabinet

Stephen Kinnock, the MP for Aberafan Maesteg, has been appointed Secretary of State for Wales — the first cabinet post of his career — as new Prime Minister Andy Burnham named his top team.

Mr Kinnock took up the role on Tuesday following his appointment on Monday evening, and the Wales Office says he will now begin a full programme of meetings and visits across Wales.

His promotion puts the MP for the Port Talbot steelworks at the cabinet table at a critical time for the town, with the £1.25bn electric arc furnace project at Tata Steel — and questions over its timetable — now landing squarely on his government’s desk.

Mr Kinnock said: “It is the privilege of my life to be appointed Welsh Secretary, and to serve the people of Wales as part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s new Cabinet.”

He pledged to build “a strong Wales within a strong United Kingdom where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential with good growth in every Welsh postcode”.

The MP — son of former Labour leader Neil Kinnock — has represented the Port Talbot area since 2015 and served as a junior health minister under Sir Keir Starmer. He backed Mr Burnham for the leadership last month, telling constituents the new Prime Minister could reconnect Labour with working communities.

He replaces Cardiff East MP Jo Stevens after two years in the role. Ms Stevens said serving as Welsh Secretary had been “a privilege and an honour”, pointing to what she described as the biggest budget settlement for Welsh public services since devolution, support for the steel industry and a £14bn commitment for Welsh railways.

Mr Kinnock is not the only Welsh MP promoted: Rhondda and Ogmore MP Sir Chris Bryant joins the cabinet as Northern Ireland Secretary, while Vale of Glamorgan MP Kanishka Narayan takes the new-look Artificial Intelligence brief.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth congratulated Mr Burnham and said the change presented “an opportunity for a reset” between Cardiff and London — saying the new Welsh Secretary must be someone who “respects and wants to see devolution work”.

Not everyone is convinced a new name changes anything. Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster spokesperson David Chadwick MP said Wales “won’t see any real change unless Welsh Labour politicians finally start fighting Wales’ corner in government”, arguing Welsh Labour MPs under Sir Keir had acted as “representatives of the UK Government in Wales, rather than representatives of Wales in the UK Government”.

Closer to home, the reshuffle leaves questions still hanging over the area’s other Labour MPs — with junior ministerial appointments expected to be confirmed over the coming days.

Chief among them is Swansea West MP Torsten Bell, who has served as Pensions Minister and whose future in the role is yet to be announced. His former boss, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, keeps his job in the new cabinet.

There has also been no announcement yet affecting Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith, who has served as a Wales Office minister, Gower MP Tonia Antoniazzi, Neath and Swansea East MP Carolyn Harris, or Mid and South Pembrokeshire MP Henry Tufnell.

Mr Burnham became Britain’s seventh Prime Minister in a decade on Monday after Sir Keir’s resignation, promising the biggest shift of power out of London in modern history — and using his first day in office to announce plans to scrap VAT on domestic electricity bills from October.

For Wales, attention now turns to what the Kinnock era means in practice: the steel transition on his own doorstep, rail funding, and the relationship with a Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government that has already asked for a reset.

We will update this story as appointments affecting local MPs are confirmed.