Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice Alex Norris

Mr Norris was born in Altrincham in 1984 and moved to Nottingham in 2003 to study Politics and History at University. He has worked as a trade union organizer for UNISON, for the Labour Party and Nottingham City Council. He has been a Labour MP since 2017, representing Nottingham North & Kimberley.  His wife, Emma Foody, is also an MP. He has had two previous Ministerial jobs:

• Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government  9 July 2024 – 6 September 2025.
• Minister of State at the Home Office between 6 2025 – 20 July 2026.

He is of course ultimately responsible for the work of the MoJ and his key responsibilities are:

• Oversight of all justice portfolios, policy, and Ministry of Justice strategy
• Oversight of cross-cutting emergency  issues, responses  supported by other  ministers according to portfolio
• Oversight of international business and future relations with the EU 
• MOJ support for the Union
• Resourcing of the department 
• Functions of the Lord Chancellor 
• Judicial policy including pay, pensions and  diversity (these and  other operational  decisions affecting the  judiciary are reserved to the Lord Chancellor).

Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending:

Catherine McKinnell

Ms McKinnell was born in Newcastle in 1976; she studied politics and history at the University of Edinburgh before going on to study law at Northumbria University. After university, McKinnell worked as an employment solicitor at Dickinson Dees, a Newcastle law firm.

She has been an MP since 2010 and was previously Minister of State (Minister for School Standards) at the Department for Education between 8 July 2024 – 6 September 2025. She has replaced Lord Timpson in this ministerial role.

Her ministerial responsibilities are:

• Prison capacity and related policy 
• Prison operations policy, reform, industrial relations and workforce
• Probation policy, operations, industrial relations, and transparency 
• His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service administration 
• Sentencing Act implementation
• Dame Lynne Owen Review into Release in Error
• Public Protection (incl. Critical Public Protection Cases)
• Parole Policy
• Trans Prisoners
• Female Offenders
• Reducing Reoffending
• Electronic Monitoring(EM)
• Offender health and drugs
• Prisoner Escort Contracts
• Counter Terrorism
• Amber Rudd Independent Review

Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services: Sarah Sackman 

Sarah Sackman was born and raised in Golders Green. She was called to the Bar in 2008 and worked as a barrister at Francis Taylor Building and Matrix Chambers, focusing on public, election, planning, environment and rating law. She was elected as the MP for Finchley and Golders Green in July 2024 and served as Solicitor General until her appointment to the MoJ. She has been at the MoJ since December 2024.

Her policy responsibilities are:

• Criminal courts policy
• Courts and Tribunals Bill
• Legal Aid
• Legal Aid Agency administration
• Legal Support and Dispute Resolution
• Legal Services
• His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administration
• Magistrates Policy
• Open Justice
• Tribunals Policy (incl. fees)
• Judicial Review
• Civil Justice
• Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Assisted Dying)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and International Justice

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims, Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and International Justice:

Alex Davies-Jones MP

Alexandra Davies was born in 1989 in Church Village, Wales. The daughter of a miner, she studied law and politics at Cardiff University. She worked as a researcher in the House of Commons and Welsh National Assembly and had a number of jobs in communications before being elected as MP for Pontypridd in 2019. She held her current post as VAWG minister between July 2024 and May 2026 before resigning to put pressure on Keir Starmer to stand down.

Her ministerial portfolio consists of:

• Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)
• Criminal Law
• Victims, Witnesses and Vulnerabilities
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority
• Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO)
• Hillsborough Law
• Death Management, Inquiries and Coroners
• Probate (excluding fees)
• Miscarriages of Justice
• Criminal Cases Review Commission
• International Justice (including Private International Law and Rule of Law)
• Devolution and the Union

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sentencing, Human Rights and Technology:

Jake Richards

Mr Richards was born on 5 July 1989 and read History at Somerville College, Oxford.

Following his undergraduate studies, he completed the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) at City, University of London. He was called to the bar in 2017. He worked as a barrister at Deka Chambers in London. He became MP for Rother Valley In July 2024. He has been a minister at the MoJ since September 2025.

His responsibilities are:

• Sentencing Policy (including Sentencing Act Implementation)
• Youth Justice policy
• Youth Custody operations
• Men and Boys
• Irregular Migration (incl. Immigration Tribunal)
• Human Rights and ECHR
• Foreign National Offenders
• Prisoner Transfer Agreements
• Children of Prisoners
• Family Justice
• Mental Capacity
• Office for the Public Guardian administration
• Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories
• Artificial Intelligence, cyber and tech
• Cross-cutting corporate portfolio (including sustainability)
• Transparency and FOI
• SI Minister

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and Lords Minister:

Lord Lemos

Gerard Lemos, Baron Lemos, was born in India in 1958 and is an Indian-British social policy researcher, author and life peer. He grew up in Croydon, before studying history and English at the University of York. Three years after leaving university, Lemos established ASRA Housing Association, an Asian housing association. He was then the director of development of Circle 33 Housing Trust before co-founding the researchers and publishers Lemos & Crane in 1990. A long-time collaborator of Michael Young, Lemos co-founded the School for Social Entrepreneurs, designing and delivering the inaugural learning programme. He joined HMPPS as Lead Non-Executive Board Member in 2018. 

He is responsible for all MoJ business in the House of Lords as well as cross-cutting CJS strategy.