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Andy Burnham has promoted Kanishka Narayan to a Cabinet position as Britain’s AI minister as part of his first major government reshuffle, handing artificial intelligence its first dedicated seat at the Cabinet table.
Narayan will attend Cabinet for the first time after surviving Burnham’s sweeping reshuffle, which saw several senior ministers leave government and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) folded into a new business super-department.
The promotion makes Britain the first country in Europe to give AI a dedicated Cabinet-level minister and keeps one of the architects of the UK’s AI strategy at the centre of government.
“It’s really good news that Kanishka Narayan is staying on as the AI minister,” former DSIT adviser Ben Johnson told City AM. “It’s really good news that he’s going to be attending Cabinet.”
Matt Clifford, who advised both Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on AI, called the appointment “fantastic”, saying Narayan had brought “great energy and clarity” to the role over the last year.
Meta AI research scientist Jakob Foerster also described the move as “fantastic news for the UK”.
AI is the ‘central economic question’
Narayan entered Parliament in 2024 after careers in business and finance before joining government as AI and online safety minister.
Since then he has become one of the government’s leading advocates for Britain’s sovereign AI strategy, arguing the country should build strength in areas where it already has global advantages rather than attempting to replicate Silicon Valley.
“History teaches us that the nations which pull ahead are those that master the defining currency of their age,” Narayan told City AM last week. “Today’s defining currency is AI.”
He added that backing British AI companies would strengthen the UK’s influence over the technology.
“When British AI companies succeed in the areas where the UK has unique strengths, we build our country’s control and leverage, ensuring we are an indispensable partner in the global tech architecture.”
“We’ve launched our £500m Sovereign AI Fund, and are putting £1.1bn behind our AI Hardware Plan. That is how we ensure Britain’s voice is heard.”
Earlier on this year, Narayan spoke to City AM about AI being Britain’s single biggest economic opportunity, dubbing it the “central economic question for the UK”.
“Britain’s central crisis is a crisis of productivity”, he said. “AI is the best shot that we have to get out of it and launch into a more exciting future”.
Burnham inherits Starmer’s AI push
Following his promotion, Narayan said Burnham asking him to attend Cabinet showed the -prime minister’s “deep commitment to AI’s importance”. “AI is likely the most significant technology in human history,” he wrote on X.
“The nations have a narrow window to decide whether they shape AI or get shaped by it. Britain is in that window right now.”
The appointment comes alongside a wider overhaul of Whitehall, with DSIT absorbed into Jonathan Reynolds’ new Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
Johnson said the Cabinet promotion was significant but argued a dedicated tech department had allowed ministers to give science and innovation greater attention.
“DSIT gave you a department that had a critical mass and a ministerial team that were working on this issue full-time,” he said. “There has never been a more important time to focus critically on AI as a technology which has enormous geopolitical implications, national security implications, economic implications and scientific implications.”
Russ Shaw, founder of Global Tech Advocates, told City AM that making the AI minister a Cabinet attendee was “a welcome recognition of AI’s strategic importance”.
“It demonstrates the government’s commitment to the defining technology of our time,” he said.
But he added that the wider technology agenda would still need sustained political backing.
“If we’re serious about remaining globally competitive, technology needs to have a strong voice at the heart of government.”
