Brown appoints brand new Cabinet

Prime Minister Gordon Brown named rising star David Miliband yesterday as Britain's youngest Foreign Minister in 30 years in a government shake-up designed to make a clean break from the Tony Blair years.

Mr Brown, who is promising change to woo back voters after 10 years of Labour Party rule and draw a line under the unpopular Iraq war, also named loyal colleague Alistair Darling as Finance Minister in a reshuffle that brought in many new faces.

As a Cabinet minister Mr Miliband, 41, voted to support the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 but was widely reported by British media to have been sceptical about the war.

Mr Brown took over on Wednesday from Mr Blair, who stepped aside as Prime Minister to try to boost Labour's chances of winning the next election, due by May 2010 at the latest but expected sooner.

In keeping with his pledge to promote women, Mr Brown appointed Jacqui Smith as Britain's first female Home Secretary and she will face the challenge of preventing any more attacks by home-grown Islamist militants.

The jobs given to Mr Brown allies - such as leadership campaign manager Jack Straw as Justice Minister, right-hand man at the Treasury Ed Balls as Children, Schools and Families Minister and fellow Scot Douglas Alexander as Minister for International Development - underlined the priorities of Mr Brown's policy agenda.

Mr Brown gave the health portfolio to Alan Johnson, who was pipped in a vote for Labour Party deputy.