Jeremy Corbyn appoints Heidi Alexander as shadow health secretary

Jeremy Corbyn, the new leader of the Labour Party, has appointed Heidi Alexander as Shadow Secretary of State for Health.

In response, Ms Alexander, the Labour MP for Lewisham East, tweeted ‘Humbled to serve as shadow health secretary. The NHS is facing immense challenges & I will do all I can to hold this Government to account’.

Andy Burnham, who Mr Corbyn defeated in the battle to win the leadership of the Labour Party, was formerly Shadow Secretary of State for Health. He has now been made Shadow Home Secretary. Liz Kendall, who coveted the position of Labour Party leader but came last with just 4.5 per cent of votes, has stepped down as Shadow Minister for Care and Older People.

Mr Corbyn has been criticised for failing to appoint any women to the top cabinet minister roles – which are seen as the Treasury, Home Office and Foreign Office.

The posts that have gone to women include Angela Eagle, who has been appointed Shadow First Secretary of State and Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Lucy Powell who has been appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Maria Eagle who is now Shadow Secretary of State for Defence and Rosie Winterton who remains as Opposition Chief Whip.

However Ms Alexander defended Mr Corbyn on Sky News saying: “I think education and health are pretty big jobs to be honest. Angela Eagle will in effect be Jeremy's number two at Prime Minister's Questions. I think Angela is very capable and the job that she has at business is a really important job.

"Jeremy has appointed someone [John McDonnell] who has been close to him over the last few years. It is clear that Jeremy is appointing a range of people from across the parliamentary Labour party and he is reaching out. Yes, we need a debate and I'm not saying it is all going to be easy but Jeremy has made some quite astute political appointments to the shadow cabinet in the last few hours.

"John is a deep thinker and I know not everyone agrees with everything he suggests, but Jeremy has made efforts to reach out to everyone. We need to focus on becoming a credible and effective opposition."

When asked how she would fund good quality healthcare, boost support for mental health and improve care services for older people, she told Sky News.

“We've got to get the economy growing so that our tax receipts go up. We've clearly got to clamp down on tax avoidance and Jeremy has proposed a number of things that he'd like the Labour party to explore, such as a people's quantitative easing. I'm suggesting that we need a robust debate to find a way in which we can live within our means, bring down the deficit but tackle those issues."

Ms Alexander was very vocal in her opposition to the closure of Lewisham A&E, highlighting the issue in Parliament.

In Parliament, she has voted for laws that support equality and human rights. She also voted to stop the Government’s NHS reorganisation and to reduce the amount of income a NHS foundation trust is allowed to make from private patients.

She has taken a special interest in end-of-life care in the past and chaired the All-Party Paliamentary Group on Choice at the End of Life during the last Parliament.