Lord Chancellor & Secretary of State for Justice David Lammy

Mr Lammy was born in Archway, Lammy attended The King’s School, Peterborough. He studied law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and was called to the bar in 1994. He later studied for a Master of Laws degree at Harvard University, becoming the first black Briton to study at Harvard Law School. In 2000, Lammy briefly served in the London Assembly before being elected to Parliament in the 2000 Tottenham by-election.

He has a wide range of ministerial posts, having recently been Foreign Secretary. He may be disappointed at being “demoted” from Foreign Secretary although the pill has been sweetened by being made Deputy PM. (Dominic Raab was also both Justice Secretary and Deputy PM). However, people in the justice field will be pleased to have him charge, mainly because of his Lammy Report which undertook a forensic examination of racial disparity throughout the CJS.

As Justice Secretary, Mr Lammy is ultimately accountable for the work of the MoJ, his formal responsibilities include:

• Oversight of all portfolios and Ministry of Justice strategy
• Oversight of departmental COVID-19 response 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)
• Corporate services

Minister of State James Timpson

A much more surprising appointment was that of James Timpson as the Prisons Minister. Mr Timpson is not a politician but the chief executive of Timpsons, best known to most of us as the local place to get your keys cut or shoes repaired. It is a family business (founded in 1865 in Manchester) and the company also owns a number of other brands including Max Spielmann, Johnsons The Cleaners, Snappy Snaps, Jeeves of Belgravia, The Watch Lab and Flock Inns. The Alex Timpson Trust offers free holiday homes for foster families because James’s parents, John and Alex, who died in 2016, fostered 90 children over 31 years at their home in Manchester.

The 52-year-old chief executive has a reputation for doing business in a different way. It has an “upside down” management style where the 5,600 employees are in charge and is known for its belief in social justice, they routinely offer to dry-clean job interview outfits for free for customers who are unemployed. The company also does small jobs for free, such as adding a new belt hole for customers, asking them to make a donation instead of paying, which has raised more than £4m for charities so far, according to a recent Guardian profile. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company temporarily closed its 2150 stores, but, unlike many others, continued to pay its employees in full.

Much more relevantly though is the fact that James Timpson has been a campaigner for penal reform for many years. He is well known in the justice field for advocating the employment of former prisoners and has always been perceived as an effective advocate because his company practised what he preached. Mr Timpson (@JamesTCobbler on the Twitter/X social media platform) was the Chair of the Employers Forum for Reducing Re-offending (EFFRR) until 2016, and became Chair of the Prison Reform Trust that same year, a role he held until his new appointment. He also founded the Employment Advisory Board network across the prison estate, which links prisons with employers to improve the employment opportunities for ex-offenders upon release.

Mr Timpson has no political affiliations and has previously worked with Conservative ministers on penal reform – indeed Risk Sunak even visited a Timpson’s during the election campaign.

In order to take up his ministerial role, Mr Timpson was made a Life Peer and his appointment is reminiscent of Gordon Brown’s premiership when a number of non-politicians were given ministerial roles in what was described as “government by experts”.

Lord Timpson’s responsibilities are:

• Prison capacity and related policy
• Prison operations, policy, reform, and industrial relations
• His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service administration
• Probation demand
• Probation policy and operations, industrial relations, and transparency
• Prisoner Escort Contracts
• Reducing Reoffending
• Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) schemes
• Electronic Monitoring (EM)
• Foreign National Offenders
• Home Detention Curfew (HDC)
• Offender Cohorts
• Female Offenders
• Offender health and drugs
• Parole based victim engagement.
• Parole policy
• Counter Terrorism
• Sustainability
• Cross-cutting Digital, Data and transformation

Minister of State 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.

Ms Alexander is responsible for:

• Criminal Courts and Criminal Court recovery
• Court Reform (including artificial intelligence, modernisation, and digital reform)
• His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service administration
• Legal Aid
• Legal Aid Agency administration
• Legal Services
• Criminal Cases Review Commission administration
• Civil Justice
• Modern Justice System: Legal Support; Dispute Resolution
• Tribunals Policy (incl. fees)
• Irregular Migration
• Probate
• Miscarriages of Justice
• Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation
• Office for the Public Guardian administration
• Mental Capacity
• Secondary Legislation
• Press/ Communications
• MoJ Mission lead for Kickstart economic growth

Under-Secretary of State, Baroness Levitt KC

Alison Levitt, Baroness Levitt, Baroness Carlile of Berriew KC (born 27 May 1963), is a British barrister. She was the principal legal advisor to the director of public prosecutions from 2009 to 2014, working under Keir Starmer, and served as a circuit judge from 2021 to 2024. 

Lord Ponsonby’s portfolio covers:

• Family Justice and Marriage and Divorce
• All Lords Business (except PPP)
• Private International Law
• International Criminal Justice
• Constitution
• Crown Dependencies
• Devolution and the Union
• EU Retained Law policy.
• Human Rights
• International
• Judicial Review
• Overseas Territories

Under-Secretary of State, 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 at the last election (interestingly, his colleague Catherine Atkinson was also elected as a Labour MP at the same election).

In addition to his work at the MoJ, he is also assistant whip.

Sir Nic is responsible for:

• Sentencing
• Youth Justice
• Youth Hubs
• Transparency
• MoJ Mission lead for Breakdown barriers to opportunity

He will also speak on prisons, probation and parole in the House of Commons (something James Timpson is constitutionally forbidden from doing).

Under-Secretary of State Catherine Atkinson

Ms Atkinson attended Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith and Benenden School. She graduated a Master of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh.

She studied law at City, University of London. She was called to the bar at Deka Chambers in 2006; interestingly her colleague Jake Richards is also a junior minister at the MoJ.

Ms Atkinson  was elected as MP for Derby North since 2024; she was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Victims since 2026.

Her ministerial responsibilities have not yet been confirmed.