Farming leaders react to new DEFRA secretary and food security minister

The latest cabinet reshuffle triggered by the resignation of deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has seen Keir Starmer remove farming minister Daniel Zeichner from his role, while Defra secretary Steve Reed has been made housing minister.

Emma Reynolds MP has become the new DEFRA secretary, while Dame Angela Eagle takes the helm as farming minister.

Daniel Zeichner wrote on X (formerly Twitter): ‘Very sad to be leaving a job in government I have loved – working with brilliant people at DEFRA and so many great people keeping our country fed: the farmers, the fishermen, everyone in the food supply chain and in rural areas.

‘But politics, and governing in particular, is a team endeavour, and the baton is passed, and I carry on with the best job possible, MP for Cambridge.’

Commenting on his new role, Steve Reed said: ‘It’s a huge honour to be appointed secretary of state for housing, communities and local government by @Keir_Starmer. Together, we will get Britain building and create a future where everyone has access to affordable, safe homes and thriving communities.’

It’s time to BUILD, BABY, BUILD🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/OQnolSf6dJ

— Steve Reed (@SteveReedMP) September 8, 2025

New appointments for farming sector

Emma Reynolds, MP for Wycombe, was appointed as the new DEFRA secretary. She was previously economic secretary to the Treasury.

She wrote on X: ‘Delighted to be appointed to the cabinet as secretary of state for DEFRA and look forward to building on the excellent work of @SteveReedMP – cleaning up our rivers, backing British farming and ensuring nature’s recovery.’

Commenting on her appointment, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “I would like to congratulate Emma on her appointment. I look forward to working closely with her in the months ahead and hope she uses the role to champion farming, ensure its high production standards are valued and invest in its future with policies that back British farming and deliver for food security.

“I would also like to thank Steve Reed MP for his time in post. Despite not always agreeing, we developed a strong working relationship, and his door was always open to the NFU.

“He recognised the planning system needed significant change to enable investment in the farm infrastructure of the future. I am confident he will be able to support rural growth and farming communities in his new role at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.”

Mr Bradshaw also congratulated Dame Angela Eagle, MP for Wallasey and formerly minister for border security and asylum, on her appointment as minister for food security and rural affairs.

“I look forward to working with Dame Angela Eagle on the challenges and opportunities facing British farming. I’d also like to thank Daniel Zeichner for his engagement with the sector and his contribution during his time in the role,” he added.

‘All eyes will be on Autumn Budget’

Commenting on Emma Reynolds’s appointment, CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “We offer our warmest congratulations to Emma, who we have known for some time as a champion of the rural cause.

“She will know already of the immense potential of the rural economy to generate growth and create jobs. We will do everything in our power to support her in unlocking that potential.”

Ms Vyvyan added that this reshuffle offers a “profound opportunity” for Labour to draw a line under a very difficult year for industry-government relations.

“But to move on, first government must recognise that their current position on inheritance tax is completely untenable and will do nothing but harm to the rural and national economy,” she concluded.

David Bean, parliament and government relations manager at the Countryside Alliance, has also shared the view that the recent shifts in personnel could offer the government an opportunity to reset its relationship with the countryside.

He said: “This relationship has been strained by a raft of harmful policies such as the family farm tax, the abrupt early closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive and plans to clamp down on heather burning as a tool for moorland management.

“It would be unwise, however, to expect an immediate raft of U-turns. As recently as last Wednesday, DEFRA’s response to the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s critical report on the government’s vision for farming offered no succour. With the purse strings still firmly under the Treasury’s control, all eyes will be on the 26th November Budget.”

‘Not a good time for cabinet reshuffle’

Martin Lines, CEO of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN), said that with so many “momentous decisions” needing to be made about the future of English nature-friendly farming and EU regulation realignment over the next few months, this is not a good time for a cabinet reshuffle.

He added: “We have lost someone with a lot of knowledge of the challenges to our industry in Daniel Zeichner, while Steve Reed was getting to grips with the challenges and opportunities around farming and its role in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, as well as ensuring the resilience of our food system.

“The new ministers must rapidly get up to speed with a complex and difficult brief, because the next 12 to 18 months or so are crucial. As ever, the NFFN will be working hard to ensure that nature-friendly farming is at the heart of government thinking.”

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