Two new ministers join the Department of Health and Social Care

Two new ministers have joined the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues to form his government.

The Right Honourable Diana Johnson DBE MP and Alison McGovern MP were appointed ministers of state in the DHSC on 21 and 22 July respectively.

The appointments come after Yvette Cooper MP was made health secretary on Monday (20 July).

The former Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock MP, was made Secretary of State for Wales on Monday.

Johnson and McGoverns’ exact roles within the department have not yet been confirmed.

OT has asked the DHSC for confirmation on which minister will now take on responsibility for primary care, a role which previously sat with Kinnock.

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Yvette Cooper MP appointed health secretary by Prime Minister Andy Burnham

Cooper replaced James Murray MP as health secretary on 20 July

Previous work with the APPG on Eye Health and Visual Impairment

Immediately prior to their DHSC roles, Johnson and McGovern were ministers in the Department for Work and Pensions and at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government respectively.

During a previous role, as employment minister, McGovern worked with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment on its Changing attitudes, changing lives: an inquiry into employer attitudes and the employment of blind and partially sighted people report, which revealed employers attitudes towards blind and partially sighted people.

During the report’s launch, in October 2024, McGovern spoke of her commitment to working with people with disabilities to increase the numbers of disabled people in work.

Johnson, who by February 2026 had taken on the role of employment minister, spoke at the one-year anniversary of the report’s publication, emphasising that “employers play a vital role in our shared goal of getting more blind and partially sighted people into employment.”