Liz Kendall appointed tech secretary

Prime minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet reshuffle has seen former Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) secretary Liz Kendall take on the role of science, technology and innovation secretary.

Kendall, who has been an MP since 2010, has been at the helm of DWP since Labour came to power in 2024. She will now oversee the government’s digital transformation at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

In a video posted on social media by DSIT, where Kendall greeted her new staff, she said: “I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to be here and to have been given the opportunity and honour to work with all of you.

“I know from my good friend Peter Kyle, your former secretary of state, the incredible potential here, your huge determination to change people’s lives for the better, and I really believe this department can help build the future for people in every part of the country, no matter their background – and who could possibly want a better job than that?”

As well as being the former DWP minister, Kendall has previously served as shadow junior health minister. However, she has limited tech industry experience.

Her appointment comes as former tech secretary Peter Kyle has been appointed business minister, but it is not the only change among DSIT ministers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and digital government under secretary Feryal Clark has left government in the reshuffle, while data protection and telecoms minister Chris Bryant, who was responsible for UK digital infrastructure and telecoms, has joined Kyle at the Department for Business and Trade.

Both posts are currently unfilled, as is the position of under-secretary of state for the future digital economy and online safety, previously held by Maggie Jones. Kanishka Narayan, MP for Vale of Glamorgan since last year’s general election, has been appointed as parliamentary under-secretary of state at DSIT, but his ministerial portfolio has yet to be confirmed.

AI expert and Darktrace founder Poppy Gustafsson, who joined the House of Lords in 2024 and sat on DSIT’s digital government panel, has also left government.

The cabinet reshuffle, which follows the resignation of former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, is likely to impact digital transformation, as a brand new team will have a steep learning curve.

These are not the first digital government changes Labour has made during its 17 months in power. In January 2025, the government announced that DSIT would become the digital centre of government, moving the Government Digital Service (GDS) from the Cabinet Office to DSIT, as well as merging the organisation with the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), which was split away from GDS by the previous Conservative government in 2021.

At the time, then tech secretary Kyle also announced a blueprint for a modern digital government, aiming to save £45bn in productivity across the public sector with the help of technology.

The focus on AI has been at the forefront of the government’s digitisation plans. Starmer has vowed to send AI teams into government departments, saying that no person’s time should be spent on a task if digital technology or AI can do it better and quicker. However, the government is currently without an AI minister.