British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appointed Labour MP Kanishka Narayan as the United Kingdom’s Minister for Artificial Intelligence, making it a cabinet-level position for the first time. The announcement came on Monday (local time) as Burnham unveiled changes to his government following his appointment as prime minister.
Narayan had previously been serving as Minister for AI and Online Safety since September 2025 under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In that role, he worked under then Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. According to a Bloomberg report, Kendall and several senior ministers from Starmer’s Cabinet were removed after Burnham assumed office.
Who is Kanishka Narayan?
According to his LinkedIn profile, Kanishka Narayan represents the Vale of Glamorgan as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford and an MBA from Stanford University.
Before joining the Cabinet, Narayan served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from July 2024 to September 2025. Since July 2024, he has been serving as an MP and in 2025 he was appointed Minister for AI and Online Safety under the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
His public service extends beyond Parliament. In 2012, he co-founded Attain Wales, a non-profit initiative aimed at improving education and social mobility in South Wales. Between 2016 and 2021, he worked as an adviser on economic policy and public service reform.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched the Help Your High Street campaign to support local businesses. He also served as a trustee of a Citizens Advice bureau between 2021 and 2023 and was a member of the advisory panel at Chatham House for two years. From 2020 to 2022, he worked as a visiting associate at the Centre for Cities, a UK think tank specialising in urban economics.
AI policy in focus
Narayan’s elevation to the Cabinet comes at a crucial time for the UK’s technology sector. Britain is home to major AI companies, including Google DeepMind, as well as startups such as ElevenLabs and Wayve, supported by a strong engineering talent base.
However, the country’s AI strategy has faced criticism over shifting technology policies and limited investment in computing infrastructure. Several major digital infrastructure projects, including a proposed OpenAI data centre, have reportedly been delayed or shelved due in part to high energy costs.
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Although Prime Minister Burnham has not yet outlined his broader AI agenda, attention is expected to focus on how his government approaches artificial intelligence and Europe’s ongoing debate over reducing dependence on AI technologies developed in the United States.
First published on: Jul 21, 2026 12:26 PM IST
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