Promotion: Hazel Blears named party chairwoman

A solicitor will this week sit in the cabinet for the first time in eight years following Hazel Blears' promotion in Tony Blair's reshuffle.


The junior appointments also saw Vera Baird QC promoted to the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA), which has five ministers for the first time.


Ms Blears was named party chairwoman and minister without portfolio after a steady rise up the ranks since her election in 1997. She had been in practice for 17 years, almost all of which was in local government. Prior to her election, she was principal solicitor at Manchester City Council.


Scottish solicitor Douglas Alexander also joined the cabinet as transport secretary, a role he will combine with being secretary of state for Scotland.


The last solicitor in the cabinet was Harriet Harman, who was social security secretary from 1997 to 1998. Ms Harman retained her role as minister of state at the DCA in the reshuffle, while Ms Baird - who takes on Ms Harman's legal aid brief - joins Bridget Prentice and Baroness Ashton as junior ministers. Secretary of State Lord Falconer also stayed put.


Previously parliamentary private secretary to Charles Clarke, Ms Baird was elected in 2001 after 26 years at the bar. In an interview with the Gazette earlier this year, she said she was 'appalled by the lack of accountability of the judiciary' and said it was 'imperative' to get more solicitors on the bench.


There are three other solicitors in government: Mike O'Brien remains as Solicitor-General; Maria Eagle moves across from education to Northern Ireland, her third junior ministerial job since 2001; and Claire Ward is promoted to whip.