Is Alex Norris MP the most left-wing lord chancellor and justice secretary yet? Could well be.
His Labour predecessors are few, I ought to note. Lord Falconer of Thoroton was a staunch Blairite and indeed one-time flatmate of Blair. Jack Straw, student firebrand turned desiccated authoritarian, championed our old friend ‘Laura Norder’ and mirrored traditional Tory rhetoric. Shabana Mahmood is Blue Labour. And David Lammy, newly defenestrated, grounded his tenure at the Ministry of Justice on abolishing jury trials.
Like Andy Burnham, the new incumbent at Petty France appears to hail from a pre-Blair incarnation of the Labour party. Known (if he is known at all) as a diligent local councillor, Norris is also a former trade union official. He is the apparent embodiment of the social-democratic left. Political intelligence website Beyond the Vote marks him as ‘strongly pro-workers’ rights and pro-progressive taxation’.
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Those jury trial curbs lie at the top of the new lord chancellor’s in-tray. But sitting underneath there is much for him to ponder. Partially immobilised by the MoJ’s fiscal straitjacket, what will Norris do about access to justice for the many? And more specifically, that now-mouldering consultation on seizing the interest on law firm client accounts?
Lammy passed the parcel on ILCA. ‘Perhaps he could hear it ticking’, to quote Jim Hacker from the ancient sitcom Yes Minister. Opposition from the legal profession has been predictably ferocious. Will Norris want to pick a fight with lawyers so soon?
If ILCA proves impracticable, or politically indigestible, do not be surprised if Norris looks to resurrect the concept of a levy or windfall tax on the very biggest firms. That might be easier to sell to a public hostile to perceived fat cats.
Bumper profits have become a staple of the top-25 annual results season. Equity partners at Linklaters (to choose but one example) now earn £1m a year more than they did a decade ago (News, p6.). In 2025/6 they were paid nearly £50,000 a week. How much is enough? Or is that the wrong question?
Partners’ tax bills will have risen commensurately, as the City of London Law Society would doubtless point out. But even Rachel Reeves considered abolishing LLP tax breaks. Don’t be surprised either if a Burnham Treasury looks again at that proposal too.
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