John Healey becomes chancellor weeks after shock resignation from defence job

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. John Healey becomes chancellor weeks after shock resignation from defence jobImage source, EPAByBrian WheelerPolitical reporterPublished20 July 2026, 19:24 BSTUpdated 2 minutes agoJohn Healey - who has been announced as Andy Burnham's Chancellor of the Exchequer - is seen as the ultimate safe pair of hands. Which made the 66-year-old's resignation as Sir Keir Starmer's defence secretary just over a month ago all the more shocking. Healey's assessment of the government's much-delayed defence investment plan - that it fell "well short of what is required for defence and the country at this dangerous time" - was devastating and undoubtedly hastened Sir Keir's departure from Downing Street.

Now he's in charge of the funding not just of defence - but of every arm of government. He replaces Rachel Reeves, who had served as Sir Keir's chancellor since Labour's 2024 landslide election win. Loyal, and not someone who briefs against colleagues to journalists or indulges in political games, he has been around the top of the Labour party for three decades.

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Live updates on this story Burnham's policy choices reveal what kind of PM he wants to be Published3 hours agoHis resignation came days before Andy Burnham's pivotal by-election in Makerfield, adding to the sense that Sir Keir's premiership was falling apart. Healey earned plaudits from across the political spectrum for resigning on a matter of principle. He had clashed with Reeves, the woman he is now replacing, pointedly saying in is resignation letter that the Treasury had been "unwilling" to "commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats".

His return to government in the most vital job of all in cabinet after the prime minister is an even bigger surprise than his resignation, given that his name had not been mentioned as a frontrunner in the increasingly feverish speculation about who Burnham would choose. Sources told the that Burnham and Healey "have the same outlook" on many of the prime minister's priorities, including reindustrialisation, the cost-of-living, and driving growth across the country. The softly-spoken Yorkshireman has a remarkable record as someone who has been on the Labour frontbench almost continuously since 2001.

Born in Wakefield in 1960 and educated at Lady Lumley's Comprehensive School, Pickering, and Peter's School in York, he studied social and political science at Christ's College, Cambridge. Before entering politics, he worked as a journalist, briefly editing Parliament's in-house magazine The House, before becoming a disability rights campaigner and trade union official. He is married and has one son.

He first came into Parliament in Tony Blair's landslide general election in 1997 as MP for Wentworth, a former mining area north of Sheffield, which following boundary changes is now Rawmarsh and Conisbrough. He retained the seat with a majority of 6,908 in the 2024 general election, with a Reform UK candidate in second place.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.