James Murray is the new UK Health Minister

James Murray is the new UK health minister. MP for Ealing North, prior to the demission of Wes Streeting - who is now aiming for the Labour leadership - he was undersecretary to the Treasury, the most important post in England after the economy minister.

"James Murray MP has been appointed as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's office announced on X.

Streeting had announced his resignation on Thursday. According to the Times, the former minister intends to run for the leadership of the government, amid pressure on Starmer to leave office.

Besides Wes Streeting, among the candidates to replace Starmer as party and government leader, the name of Andy Burnham has emerged. However, the mayor of Manchester, whom supporters call the 'King of the North', must first get himself elected to parliament. A circumstance that now seems anything but remote: the intention is there, and former minister Josh Simons has indicated that he will leave his Makerfield parliamentary seat precisely to allow Burnham to stand in the by-election.

Starmer, according to Sky News reports, will not use his influence within the Labour Party's governing bodies to prevent him from running for a seat in the House of Commons. This decision marks a change of line from earlier this year, when the prime minister called on the National Executive Committee (Nec), Labour's executive body, to block Burnham's candidature in the Gorton and Denton by-election.