Climate

Ed Miliband leaves Energy Ministry for UK Foreign Office

Herz — Climate Desk · 21 July 2026 at 09:48 · 30s summary · 3 min read

The essentials

Ed Miliband, Energy Secretary in the Starmer government, has left his position to join the Foreign Office, the UK's ministry of international affairs. Over two years, he drove the decarbonization of Britain's electricity sector by 2030, lifted the ban on onshore wind farms, and helped attract around £100 billion in private investment in clean technologies. The think tank E3G describes him as the "most effective minister" of the Starmer administration. New Prime Minister Andy Burnham now faces pressure to approve new North Sea oil and gas drilling.

Miliband moves from Energy to Foreign Office under new PM Burnham
Think tank E3G calls him Starmer administration's most effective minister
Low-carbon auctions secured capacity for approximately 23 million homes
Private sector committed around £100 billion to clean technology
Burnham faces pressure to greenlight new North Sea oil and gas projects

Illustration image — REN21, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

What we know

Ed Miliband has left the position of Energy Secretary in the Starmer government to join the Foreign Office, the UK's ministry of international affairs, according to The Guardian.

This departure comes as part of a government transition: Andy Burnham has succeeded Keir Starmer as British Prime Minister.

Miliband's central mission in Energy was to decarbonize the UK electricity sector by 2030.

Miliband's Energy Ministry record

Within 72 hours of taking office in July 2024, he lifted the ban on onshore wind turbines, fast-tracked approval for offshore wind and solar farms, and reformed the chaotic queue for grid connection applications.

Low-carbon energy auctions have secured enough capacity to power approximately 23 million British households.

A scheme called the "Warm Homes Plan"—aimed at installing insulation, heat pumps, and clean energy systems in homes—is expected to lift approximately 1 million families out of energy poverty.

The UK is also pursuing a small modular reactor (SMR) programme—involving nuclear fission reactors of relatively low power, in the range of 10 to 300 MWe, well below conventional reactor capacity.

In June 2026, the government announced that the private sector had committed around £100 billion to clean technology. A plan aims to support 400,000 jobs in the low-carbon sector, more than double the previous figure.

~23 million

households with low-carbon energy capacity secured

~£100 billion

private investment in clean energy technologies (announced June 2026)

~1 million

families targeted by the Warm Homes Plan

400,000

low-carbon sector jobs supported (target, more than double previous figure)