From buck teeth and fancy dress to cricket whites and bedtime snaps, Andy Burnham has given followers a hilarious glimpse into the childhoods of the politicians now running Britain.
Just a day after unveiling his new Cabinet, the Prime Minister shared a tongue-in-cheek ‘then v now’ Instagram post showing his senior ministers long before they swapped school uniforms for suits and the red dispatch box.
But can YOU guess who each one is?
The young boy in his cricket whites is our new PM Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham, 56, leads the nostalgic line-up with a picture of himself beaming in cricket whites with his arms folded, presumably from around the time when the sports-mad PM was a fast bowler for the Lancashire schoolboys cricket team.
Born in Aintree in 1970, Burnham was inspired by the miners’ strike to join the Labour Party in his teens and first became an MP in 2001.
The former health secretary had twice failed to become party leader – losing to Ed Miliband in 2010 and Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 – and after leaving Parliament, served as Greater Manchester mayor.
Before his triumphal return winning the backing of 379 of Labour’s 403 MPs to replace Sir Keir Starmer.
The young toddler laughing is the new Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey
New Chancellor John Healey appears as a giggling toddler in a black and white snap from the 1960s.
Born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Healey studied social and political sciences at Christ’s College, Cambridge, before working for the Trades Union Congress and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.
First elected as MP for Wentworth in 1997, he has held several ministerial roles during his parliamentary career and is now entrusted with overseeing the nation’s finances.
His appointment as Chancellor marks his return to the cabinet less than two months after quitting as defence secretary.
A former Treasury minister, Healey recently attacked what he called a ‘Treasury orthodoxy that’s a dead hand on dynamic government’ that viewed defence as ‘a drain rather than a driver of growth’.
Senior figures in government say he shares Burnham’s ambitions for reindustrialisation and devolution.
The boy with the big grin is new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband
But perhaps the biggest transformation belongs to the new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, whose school photograph shows him flashing a nervous smile complete with an unforgettable pair of prominent buck teeth.
He has moved on from the energy and net zero brief he held since Labour returned to power, taking on a new role in Andy Burnham’s reshuffled Cabinet.
The former Labour leader had previously been tipped as a potential Chancellor, with supporters highlighting his experience at the Treasury and his time as a senior figure within the party.
However, his economic credentials have also faced scrutiny, with some critics questioning his approach, particularly over his policies on energy.
Mr Miliband has represented Doncaster North in Parliament since 2005 and remains one of Labour’s longest-serving MPs.
Louise Haigh is the little girl dressed up as an angel
While First Secretary Louise Haigh looks every inch the little angel in a childhood fancy dress costume.
That seems worlds away from the woman who will now oversee the department responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and helping co-ordinate the Government’s priorities across Whitehall.
The Sheffield Heeley MP first entered Parliament in 2015 and quickly made a name for herself as one of Westminster’s most energetic new arrivals.
Within a year, she was named the hardest-working new MP after making a high number of Commons speeches and asking hundreds of parliamentary questions.
Former Commons Speaker John Bercow praised her ‘terrier-like intensity’ in the chamber, a reference to her persistent style of holding ministers to account.
Before entering politics, Ms Haigh worked as a special constable and was also a Unite union shop steward.
Her rise through Labour’s ranks was hit by controversy in 2025 when she became the first member of Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet to resign after it emerged she had admitted a fraud offence dating back to 2013 while serving as transport secretary.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is the little girl in the nightdress alongside a young boy who is presumably one of her brothers
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is all smiles in a nightdress as she poses beside a young boy in a family snap.
She has kept her place at the top of Government, remaining as Home Secretary after taking on the role in September 2025.
The Birmingham Ladywood MP is responsible for some of the most politically sensitive areas of Whitehall, including immigration, national security and policing across England and Wales.
Ms Mahmood has built a reputation among Labour colleagues as taking a tough stance on immigration. Shortly after becoming Home Secretary, she unveiled major reforms to the asylum system, claiming the previous approach had become ‘out of control’.
A long-serving Labour figure, Ms Mahmood entered Parliament in 2010 after winning Birmingham Ladywood.
She has said she was the first female Muslim MP elected, arguing her declaration was the first completed on election night, although Yasmin Qureshi and Rushanara Ali were also elected that year.
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