Another Labour U-turn! Miatta Fahnbulleh and Angela Eagle are 'delighted' as they leave Downing Street with new jobs - only to walk the wrong way into a dead end

Published: 12:34, 22 July 2026 | Updated: 12:35, 22 July 2026 New ministers Miatta Fahnbulleh and Angela Eagle pulled off their first U-turns before the ink had dried on their contracts - after walking the wrong way as they left Downing Street.  The pair looked delighted as they strolled out of No10 on Monday night having both been handed jobs in Andy Burnham's new-look Cabinet. Ms Fahnbulleh had just replaced Ed Miliband - now Foreign Secretary - as Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, while Ms Eagle had accepted the role of Environment Secretary. But in a slightly foreboding incident, the duo soon reached a dead end and had to awkwardly circle back to the other end of Downing Street, in front of the watching press pack. BBC Newsnight's ever-energetic presenter Nick Watt provided a live commentary of the debacle after the new Energy Secretary told him she was 'delighted' with her new job. Rather unchivalrously, Mr Watt revealed she was trying to 'walk out the wrong way' and had come face-to-face with a blocked-off exit – a revelation that sparked laughter in the studio and was accompanied by social media users quipping: 'Doesn't fill you with much confidence…' The detour took the ministers past 11 Downing Street - now occupied by Mr Burnham's surprise pick as Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood - and towards Horse Guards Parade. But they were forced to head back in the direction of No10 and return to Whitehall. New ministers Miatta Fahnbulleh and Angela Eagle walked the wrong way as they left Downing Street moments after their appointments, as BBC Newsnight's Nick Watt watched on The question now being asked by energy firms is whether Ms Fahnbulleh – a fervent Miliband loyalist – will continue to take the beleaguered industry in the wrong direction set by her predecessor. The promotion of Miliband to the Foreign Office was, of course, greeted with sighs of relief from the industry after his Net Zero zealotry helped ensure Britain's electricity bills are among the highest in the Western world.  But opponents of Net Zero were equally put on edge by his replacement. Ms Fahnbulleh's climb up the greasy pole has been nothing short of spectacular. She is the only MP of the 2024 intake to have a full Cabinet position. She first joined the ranks of government as Miliband's deputy in the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), having entered Parliament after working as an adviser for the failed Labour leader, and as a policy wonk for the far-Left New Economics Foundation (NEF). And when it comes to Net Zero, Miatta is just as radical – if not more so – than her old boss.  In 2019, she proposed spending a staggering 5 per cent of GDP on green infrastructure, the equivalent of £140billion a year, and more than the entirety of Britain's defence spending. In November 2021, she called on the then-Tory government to spend £30billion a year on Net Zero.  She also demanded that Britain fulfil its 'decade-old promise to mobilise £74billion of climate finance from rich nations to help the global south with the impacts of climate change'. Two months later came her demand for a £28billion subsidy for green infrastructure jobs. Ms Fahnbulleh, pictured with new Prime Minister Andy Burnham during campaigning for the last General Election, has enjoyed a rapid rise to the top of British politics On the other hand, Ms Eagle, pictured after being elected as an MP in 1992, has been in Westminster for over three decades - and now finally has a Cabinet role to show for it In 2023, she called for a 'free basic energy' policy which she explained would completely eradicate bills 'for the first slug of energy you use… and then pay more if you use more energy'. And shortly after resigning from Keir Starmer's government, she appeared on Nick Robinson's Political Thinking podcast to flirt with the neo-Marxist politics of the Green Party's Zack Polanski. As for Ms Eagle, the Labour stalwart finally made it to the Cabinet in Burnham's reshuffle after first being elected as an MP in 1992.  She served as security minister in the Starmer Government, having been handed a string of ministerial jobs during the reigns of Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.