Chancellor John Healey has appointed Will Straw, son of former Labour home secretary Jack Straw, as his chief of staff, it has been revealed. Straw, a prominent Remainer, is set to become the most senior adviser to the Chancellor in the Treasury.
An insider described Straw's appointment as a "coup" for the new Chancellor. The 45-year-old is currently the CEO of King's Trust International, a charity focused on global youth unemployment. Previously, he served as executive director of Britain Stronger in Europe, the official campaign for remaining in the European Union during the 2016 referendum. Straw was awarded a CBE for political and public service in David Cameron's resignation honors list. He also has prior experience within the Treasury, having worked as a senior policy advisor during Gordon Brown's tenure as Chancellor.
Straw had previously sought elected office, standing as Labour's candidate in the Rossendale and Darwen constituency in the 2015 general election, but was defeated by the incumbent Conservative MP.
This appointment follows Chancellor Healey's return to government as Prime Minister Andy Burnham's Chancellor. Healey had resigned as defense secretary in Keir Starmer's administration just over a month prior. At the time of his resignation, Healey criticized Starmer for failing to secure sufficient funding for Labour's Defence Investment Plan (DIP) and expressed frustration with then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves's alleged unwillingness to allocate the necessary billions. Healey also voiced concerns about the lack of a commitment to a timetable for spending 3 percent of Britain's GDP on defense, a target he stated should be met by 2030.
Healey now faces the challenge of finding the funds to meet this defense commitment, as well as addressing a nearly £5 billion shortfall in the DIP funding he inherited from Reeves. Treasury documents indicated that while £10.3 billion of the required funds were identified through savings across government departments, the remaining £4.7 billion was slated for confirmation at the 2026 Budget, creating a significant funding gap for his upcoming fiscal plans.