‘I was on my honeymoon!’: Hamish Falconer’s surprise call-up to Burnham’s cabinet

Hamish Falconer in Lincoln city centre. He was in Greece when he found out about his appointment as minister of state for intergovernmental and European relations. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

When Hamish Falconer left his career as a Foreign Office diplomat for the hostile environment of a Labour party selection process, one of his last acts was a negotiation to free six hostages from the Taliban.

When he won the key marginal seat of Lincoln in the 2024 general election, he did not expect to be back in those offices on King Charles Street quite so quickly – he was appointed Middle East minister just two weeks later.