Britain’s David Lammy has been removed from the role of foreign minister, UK media reported Friday, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer reshuffled his cabinet following the resignation of deputy premier and housing minister Angela Rayner.

Rayner, a figurehead among Labour’s left-wing base, quit after an investigation found that she had underpaid property tax on a new home, in the latest blow to Starmer’s flagging 14-month-old premiership.

The cabinet reshuffle also comes as Israel’s President Isaac Herzog is set to visit the UK next week, according to an unconfirmed report in the Guardian, which quoted some left-wing Labour lawmakers as expressing anger over the planned visit amid the war in Gaza.

According to UK media, Lammy will become deputy prime minister and justice minister, and be replaced as foreign minister by current Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

According to Sky News, the move is seen as a large blow for Lammy after Starmer apparently promised him five years in the position as recently as November. The move is the most significant in Starmer’s cabinet reshuffle.

Lammy has recently assailed Israel over the war in Gaza. Speaking to the UK parliament earlier this week, he accused Israel of fomenting “man-made famine” in the Strip, a charge Israel has angrily denied.

Lammy said he was “outraged by the Israeli government’s refusal to allow in sufficient aid” to Gaza, and that Israel’s reputation among young people around the world.

“This is not a natural disaster,” he said. “It’s a man-made famine in the 21st century.” He also blasted Hamas for “deliberately starving Israeli hostages.”

As home secretary, Cooper has angered pro-Palestinian activists in Britain by proscribing the organization Palestine Action after members of the anti-Israel group vandalized planes in a Royal Air Force base.

Hundreds of people have been detained in London at demonstrations in support of the banned group.

Cooper is expected to be replaced by Shabana Mahmood, the current justice minister.

Cooper is one of Labour’s most senior figures, having served under former prime minister Gordon Brown. Her appointment will be seen as a promotion of sorts after overseeing the government’s often-criticized policy to tackle illegal migration.

Mahmood is also seen as a “safe pair of hands” in Labour, a no-nonsense politician who has not been scared to take bold action while running the justice system.

Loyalty is seen as vital by Starmer, who has suffered the most ministerial resignations — outside government reshuffles — of any British prime minister early in their tenure in almost 50 years.

Rayner, 45, was the eighth, and the most senior, ministerial departure from Starmer’s team, and the most damaging yet for the premier.

“Angela is a ‘big beast’ and hard to replace,” said one Labour lawmaker, adding that the three new appointments were “sound” if not overly exciting.

Starmer offered Rayner support when she was first accused of avoiding 40,000 pounds ($54,000) in tax. In her resignation letter, Rayner apologized to the premier.

“I deeply regret my decision not to seek additional specialist tax advice,” she said, adding she would also be stepping down as deputy leader of the Labour Party.

In his reply, Starmer told Rayner he was “very sad” to lose her from government, but added: “You will remain a major figure in our party.”

Rayner’s resignation has put more pressure on Starmer, with Labour trailing Nigel Farage’s anti-immigrant Reform UK in the polls.

In a letter to Starmer, UK ethics chief Laurie Magnus wrote that Rayner had failed to “heed the caution” of legal advice she had received about the purchase of a home in south England, so he considered the UK ministerial code breached.

The 45-year-old Rayner has three sons, one of whom was born prematurely and is registered blind with lifelong special needs.

She said that after her 2023 divorce, she sold her part of the family home to a trust fund set up for her son to secure the specially-adapted house for her child’s future. She then used the money to help buy the £800,000 ($1.08 million) flat in Hove.

Rayner paid less tax because she claimed the flat was her main home rather than a second home. She later conceded this was wrong since her son is under 18 and therefore she was deemed to still have an interest in the former family home.

The ethics chief said the rules “entailed a considerable degree of complexity” and recognized that Rayner had twice been advised that the lower rate of stamp duty was applicable.

That advice, however, was qualified by the admission that it did not constitute expert tax advice. Rayner’s failure to seek further guidance meant she “cannot be considered to have met the highest possible standards of proper conduct,” said Magnus.

Rayner had been tipped as a potential future Labour leader and has been a top target for political attacks by the opposition Conservatives and right-wing media.

She left school with no qualifications after becoming pregnant at age 16, and has a straight-talking style that has proved popular with working-class voters.

She grew up in Stockport on the outskirts of Manchester in northwest England, living in one of the area’s most deprived social housing complexes.