Angela Eagle comes home to roost as Defra secretary

Seasoned politician and MP for Wallasey Angela Eagle has been appointed as the new environment secretary, marking a return to Defra just five weeks after she left the department.

She previously held the role of Defra farming minister from September 2025 to June 2026.

See also: Stephen Morgan replaces Eagle as Defra farming minister

Her return coincides with the departure of previous incumbent Emma Reynolds, who has been appointed chief secretary to the Treasury as new prime minister Andy Burnham sorts out his new government team.

Dame Angela came into her first Defra role in 2025 with little experience of the agriculture – allegedly having only mentioned “farming” three times in Parliament since becoming an MP in 1992.

But she was credited with learning the brief quickly, overseeing the redesign and roll out of the revamped Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026.

She also terminated the last vestiges of the old Basic Payment Scheme in England – so-called “delinked payments” – a year ahead of schedule.

Prior to that, Dame Angela had served on Labour’s front bench since 2010 and was best known for having challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership of the Labour party in 2016.

She now becomes the 10th Defra secretary in a decade.

It remains to be seen if current Defra farming minister Stephen Morgan stays in his post.

Reaction

Farming and countryside organisations say they are pleased with the reappointment, having developed something of a relationship with Dame Angela during her first stint at Defra.

Tenant Farmers Association chief executive George Dunn said: “The TFA built a constructive relationship with Angela Eagle when she was minister of state within Defra and we look forward to working with her in her new cabinet role. 

“We are pleased that prime minister Burnham has appointed someone with experience in the role, enabling us to hit the ground running on the issues of interest to the tenanted sector of agriculture, rather than having to brief in a completely new incumbent.”

Countryside Alliance chairman Tim Bonner described the appointment as “pivotal” coming at a time when relations between the government and countryside is “strained”.

“We hope that means resetting the government’s relationship with rural people, legislating for them, not against them,” he said. “The countryside has so much to offer, but for it to thrive, it cannot be an afterthought.”

NFU president Tom Bradshaw congratulated Dame Angela on her appointment and said he looked forward to working with her again “to build a resilient food system, drive growth across the farming sector and strengthen food security for 29 million households across the UK”.

He also thanked Emma Reynolds for her commitment and “collaborative approach” during her time in post.