Pinto-Duschinsky returns as PPS in Burnham government

Hendon MP David Pinto-Duschinsky has been reappointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Work and Pensions, the latest list of government appointments confirmed.

The Jewish parliamentarian previously held the PPS role under Keir Starmer, whom he strongly supported. In recent months, however, he has shifted his backing to new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

A PPS acts as a liaison, helping ministers gauge the mood among MPs.

It is considered the entry point for backbench MPs aspiring to join the executive branch.

Before entering Westminster, Pinto-Duschinsky worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company and later became a partner at Ernst & Young.

He is the son of Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, a distinguished politics academic and Holocaust survivor, and served on Alistair Darling’s Council of Economic Advisers at the Treasury during the 2008 financial crisis.

In the 2024 general election, he was elected MP by just 15 votes after a recount—the smallest majority in that election.

At the time, The Times newspaper named him among six Labour MPs considered possible ministerial material.

Monday’s list also confirmed that Sir Nic Dakin—first elected in 2010 and a former justice minister and senior whip—will serve as Burnham’s main parliamentary private secretary (PPS).

The list also includes two members of the hard-left Socialist Campaign Group – Olivia Blake, who becomes a PPS in Housing and Local Government and Steve Witherden, named as a PPS in the Energy Department.