Gordon Brown's First Cabinet Quiz | U.K. Government

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Gordon Brown became the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 27th June 2007. Who took over his job as Chancellor of the Exchequer?

Answer: Alistair Darling

Alastair Darling became the new Chancellor on the 28th June after much speculation that he would indeed get the much sought-after promotion. The expectation that he would become Chancellor was so great that some bookmakers stopped taking bets on the appointment of the former Transport Secretary and Minister for Trade and Development to the Treasury.

2. All administrations need a chief whip to keep the party under control. Who became the new Chief Whip in June 2007?

Answer: Geoff Hoon

More often than not, the party in government battle with some rebellious backbenchers. The job of attempting to keep the backbenchers to vote along party lines falls to the governmental Whips. The Whips are under the control of the Chief Whip who holds a position in Cabinet. Geoff Hoon was previously the Minister of State for Europe, a position outside the Cabinet, but has had a few positions within the Cabinet in the past. Geoff Hoon succeeded Jacqui Smith to this brief.

3. Peter Hain gained a promotion in the 2007 reshuffle. He previously held the offices of Northern Ireland and Wales. He retained his Welsh brief but what replaced his responsibilities regarding Northern Ireland?

Answer: Work and Pensions Secretary

He gained the post of work and pensions secretary - a job with a lot of responsibility and a position of great importance. As well as the Northern Ireland position, Peter Hain has also had the role of leader of the House of Commons.

4. As a result of the 2007 Cabinet reshuffle, who ended up as the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary?

Answer: James Purnell

James Purnell succeeded Tessa Jowell as the Minister of this department. Incidentally, James Purnell had held a lower ranking role within this ministry under Tessa Jowell. Jowell was demoted to just the Minister for the Olympics and London.

The other two names mentioned above also hold cabinet positions. Yvette Cooper became a Cabinet member when Gordon Brown assigned the Department of Housing to the Cabinet. Baroness Kathy Ashton succeeded Baroness Valerie Amos as the leader of the House of Lords.

5. The newly-appointed Secretary of State for Transport was one of the few positions held by a female in Gordon Brown's new 2007 Cabinet, but which minister was assigned to the role?

Answer: Ruth Kelly

Ruth Kelly held a few Cabinet positions in the Labour Government. Despite having been the subject of controversy on a few occasions, she managed to retain a place in Gordon Brown's first Cabinet, this time at the Department of Transport. Her previous jobs included Education and Skills Secretary and Minister for Local Government and Communities.

6. Who is the lady who became Gordon Brown's first Home Secretary?

Answer: Jacqui Smith

Jacqui Smith became the first female to ever hold the office of the interior. Within the first couple of days in the job she had to deal with bomb scares in London and to assist the Scottish parliament during the Glasgow airport bombing. She was previously the Chief Whip.

7. The 2007 reshuffle saw brothers assigned to the same Cabinet for the first time since the 1920s. David held the post of Foreign Secretary and Ed became the Minister for the Cabinet Office and also attained the position as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. What is their surname?

Answer: Miliband

The brothers Miliband held three Cabinet positions between them with the position of Foreign Secretary, a position within the top five in government, falling to David.

Interestingly, there was also a husband and wife combination in the Cabinet with Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families and Yvette Cooper, Housing Secretary.

8. Alan Johnson was previously the Education and Skills Secretary under the Blair administration, but to what Department of equal importance was he reassigned in 2007?

Answer: Department of Health

Alan Johnson succeeded Patricia Hewitt as the Health Secretary, when she resigned from the Cabinet after citing personal reasons. Alan Johnson had a tough job of looking after the National Health Service (NHS) and controlling the funds to buy medicines and equipment.

He also had to speak at conferences with doctors and nurses attending and had to work closely with medical bodies such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

9. Who became the Secretary of State for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs?

Answer: Hilary Benn

Hilary Benn became the minister for what is commonly known as Defra. Within his first week or so of holding the brief he had to deal with the terrible floods suffered around England with Sheffield being an area of great importance after the river Don burst its banks.

Douglas Alexander replaced Hilary Benn as International Development Secretary, John Hutton became the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Shaun Woodward became Northern Ireland Secretary.

10. Only one member of the Brown Cabinet retained his position after the reshuffle. He was the Secretary of State for Defence but what was his name?

Answer: Des Browne

Des Browne replaced John Reid as Defence Secretary in Tony Blair's final Cabinet reshuffle and was the only person to retain his post in Gordon Brown's first Cabinet. As Defence Secretary, his job involved working closely with the armed forces to ensure the protection of the state of the United Kingdom during a time of heightened security with wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Browne also became the Minister for Scotland.

Source: Author jonnowales

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor trident before going online.
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Gordon Brown's First Cabinet Trivia Quiz

Who was in and who was out? It was certainly an interesting day in politics. In June 2007, Gordon Brown, British chancellor for 10 years, succeeded Tony Blair and revamped the majority of the Cabinet. A quiz on the fickle topic of British politics.

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