UK government – change but no progress

Rayner resigns. David Lammy in as deputy prime minister and  justice secretary. Yvette Cooper is the new foreign secretary and Shabana Mahmood becomes home secretary, while Rachel Reeves stays as chancellor.

 This is a speed read.

Lammy, 19 July 1972, London, is a late Sun Cancer with a Scorpio Moon and a flashy and outspoken Mercury Mars in Leo.

 His Pluto in final degree Virgo is catching this month’s Solar Eclipse hinting perhaps at a more powerful position but given that tr Neptune Saturn will oppose his Pluto over the winter it hints at discouraging times ahead. His Jupiter at zero degrees Capricorn is also being undermined by tr Neptune Saturn in square now and into 2026. The next few months do look mired in confusion with greater frustrations in 2026/27.

    His relationship with Starmer equally looks stressed and discontented into and worsening throughout 2026 as they run into considerable setbacks.

 Shabana Mahmood, 17 September 1980,  is a Sun Jupiter Saturn in Virgo square Neptune; and a determined Mars in Scorpio and Uranus in Scorpio square North Node in Leo and Venus.

  The Home Office is a thankless job and no surprises she is running into sinkholes and setbacks in 2026 and worse in 2027. Her Saturn in final degree Virgo is also seriously rattled this month by the eclipse and across the winter by tr Neptune Saturn in opposition.

 Her relationship with Starmer is nerve stretched and high-tension now and through 2026 with tr Uranus opposition the composite Neptune Saturn. And tr Saturn Neptune opposition the composite Pluto.

  Musical chairs at the top won’t make much difference to a government that increasingly looks unable to cope.

27 thoughts on “UK government – change but no progress”

  1. I was wondering where Emily Thornberry is, and, voilà, I open The Daily Mail, and the newspaper says she has thrown her hat into the ring. I mention her because I know of an astrologer who looked at her chart and saw leadership abilities. She is also a late-July Leo. Don’t know her backstory with Keir.

  2. If I take a look at the Transit Rhythmogram for the 1927 chart, I get that now we should undergo a bit of a lessening of activity in the Curve of Sums.

    We’ve had conjunction and square of Saturn to Uranus and North Node during the summer, and Neptune is going back and forth over the conjunction to Uranus and square to the North Node.

    From early 2026 Pluto will start trining the MC, and then from late spring all the way through summer the Curve of Sums goes up, because Uranus and Pluto will trine the MC and Neptune will oppose it. Saturn will square Pluto.

    Then 2027 is highly active – maybe Nigel knows something – Pluto sextiles Saturn and the AC, Neptune opposes the MC and trines the AC, Uranus opposes the AC and Saturn, Saturn will conjunct the Sun (among other transits), by the year’s end Jupiter will square Mars.

    So lots of activity regarding social standing and aspirations and also power and rule of a country – the MC – as well as its priorities and how it is seen by the outside world – the AC.

    Second half of 2028 shows the trines of Pluto to Saturn and trines of Neptune to Saturn and AC.

    In the late summer and early autumn of 2029 Saturn conjuncts Venus and squares Moon and Neptune.

  3. Whirlygig time! I noticed that the approaching Solar Eclipse at 29 Virgo crops up in natal charts for David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood as Marjorie writes. Yvette Cooper’s Sun is 29 Pisces (or possibly 0 Aries), so it is also activated. This government’s beginning, in July 2024 had Neptune 29 Pisces. Since the UK’s 1066 chart has Uranus 28 Sagittarius and Moon 29 Pisces, it’s possible to see how that might manifest in an unsettled population. There seems to be a longing for both change (fiery, mutable Uranus), and soothing dreams of calm (Moon in Pisces?).

    • I also wonder about the astrology for the GE of May 2010, which resulted in the Cameron/Clegg coalition government. Clegg has been doing interviews recently to promote his new book.
      The approaching 29 Virgo eclipse, plus tr Saturn and Neptune, highlights that time. On 6th May, we had Jupiter 24 Pisces, Saturn 28 Virgo, Uranus 29 Pisces, Neptune 28 Aquarius, and Pluto 5 Capricorn. Next February’s Solar Eclipse in Aquarius will be conjunct that 2010 Neptune. A time of assessment clearly, but simply repeating the mantra “fourteen years of Tory rule” isn’t good enough. Yes, we can argue that a big boy did it and ran away – but what can we do to put things right?

      • Non-astrological thought but who do publishers see as the target audience for a book by Nick Clegg? I’m reminded of when footballers like Ashley Cole or Steven Gerrard’s autobiographies sold about 5,000 copies and end up in the bargain bin for £1.

        Every LibDem voter probably feels betrayed by him and while he may have one or two insights about coalition government, it’s hard not to think Cameron just ran roughshod over him with austerity. I don’t think anything Clegg explains is going to make anyone feel better – especially fifteen years later – and so much more interesting stuff has happened in politics since. If I recall rightly Clegg is born Jan 1967 so has just been undergoing is 2nd Saturn Return.

          • That was the LibDem promise.

            But Clegg did get a now-forgotten referendum on changing the First Past the Post election system. A form of Alternative Vote. Given what we know about the sophistication of most voters, the proposed system was probably far too complicated for the average person to understand (42% turnout – 68% were No).

            Cameron was the king of referenda.

        • Clegg’s book is called How to Save the Internet……mostly terrible reviews. Think it has lots about Meta and AI etc. Can’t wait not to read it!! Currently he is everywhere, promoting it and reminding us all of 2010. Here’s Chris Stokel-Walker’s take on it from the New Scientist:

          “I can pinpoint the moment when my brain refused to take in any more of Nick Clegg’s new book, How to Save the Internet.

          It was on page 131, after a banal look at a future family whose lives had been improved by artificial intelligence, followed by a one-two punch of block-quoted chunks, first from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, then from an NPR article. I had to put the book down and walk away. I couldn’t hold out any longer. It was all too dull.”

          His astro does connect with that election, he has Saturn 24 Pisces opposite Uranus 24 Virgo, Neptune 23 Scorpio. Tr Jupiter was 24 Pisces then. Jupiter in Cancer transit will probably help him find another well-paid job.

        • Cammie really self-combusted, which was all the more flagrant since he seemed to might have had such a promising and long-lasting rule.

          Do you know which Midas’ touch planetary transit gave Clegg such a huge and well-paid from-the-ashes career in Silicon Valley?

  5. Starmer’s biggest problem is not really the reshuffle which is really just moving the same faces minus Rayner to different posts in the Cabinet. The more difficult problem will be the fact that Rayner has resigned as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party as well. This is not a job which Starmer can simply dish out to one of his side kicks as the Labour Party NEC will probably want an election. This may land the Prime Minister with a candidate from the left who may be a lot more difficult than Rayner to control.

    The chart for Starmer becoming leader of the Labour Party (timed at about 10:52 am on the 4 April 2020) has a 11th House Sun at 15 Aries, Ascendant at 12 Cancer, Moon at 23 Leo in the 3rd House. Pluto and Jupiter are exactly conjunct at 24 Capricorn in the 7th House and are inconjunct the Moon which is the only planet below the horizon in the chart. Neptune and Mercury are conjunct at 18 Pisces in the 10th House. There is a Saturn/Mars conjunction at 0/3 Aquarius with Saturn trine Venus at 0 degrees Gemini and Mars square Uranus at 5 Taurus both in the 11th House.

    The chart is being activated at the moment by Pluto in Aquarius and Uranus in Gemini. Perhaps significantly the Neptune/Mercury conjunction is close to the upcoming Lunar Eclipse on 7 September 2025 (it certainly seems to have ended Rayner’s Cabinet career). In the next 7-8 months transiting Jupiter is going to be making 3 passes opposite that 2020 natal Pluto/Jupiter conjunction. The first will be direct on 30-31 October 2025. The second will retrograde on about 23-26 November 2025. The third will be direct about 5 June 2026. It is noticeable these phases will encompass the upcoming Budget and the May local elections. It should be noted that these Jupiter transits are also going to be activating the 2020 Pluto/ Saturn conjunction at 22 Capricorn as well. Jupiter will move to Leo on 1st July 2026 to oppose the Labour 2020 leadership election Saturn at the 2020 Great Mutation Degree of 0 Aquarius. It then moves onto oppose transiting Pluto in Aquarius on 20 July 2020.

    It seems a lot of western governments are struggling at the moment. This maybe because a number of them were born under the old astrological dispensation of Pluto in Capricorn, Neptune in Pisces, Uranus in Taurus and Saturn in Pisces. They appear to be finding it difficult to cope with the shift of these planets to new signs. The upcoming retrograde periods of Neptune, Uranus and Saturn back to their former signs maybe their last chance to adapt to the changing situation. If they fail to adjust then I expect some of them are not going to survive.

    • Interesting, especially the last bit. How would the Trump administration be classified? The inauguration had Pluton in Aquarius but Uranus still in Taurus and Neptune still in Pisces. The election in November 2024 had Pluto still in Capricorn as well so it may be that a lot of voters thought they would be getting something different at that time.

      • Arguably Trump’s administration is demonstrating the “rip it up and throw it out” qualities of Aquarius in attempting to go back to an old time (Capricorn/Taurus) that never really existed (Pisces).

        • The American version. Drone footage of the shot through the bow of the drug boat. Restoring the name Department of War. National Guard cleaning up drug encampments. UFC at the White House. The American version seems to be Aries and Aries versus Pisces.

          The British version? Minister reshuffle. Protests. Flags. The Budget. Migrant hotels. Not sure what might be the Aries things that are becoming prevalent. It seems the British version is more related to the Aquarius Pluto and the crowd of parties versus the old government. Aquarius versus Capricorn.

          Aries Neptune. Idealizing the alpha male, the warrior, the fight. Is that Trump or the Democrats? Starmer or Tories or Reform or Green or Your Party?

          Aquarius Pluto. Pluto’s removal of the unliving elements of the old government (Capricorn) and rebirth of the new crowd (Aquarius). Trump or the Dems? Starmer or Tories or Reform or Green or Your Party?

    • Having someone from the left foisted upon him might be the very kick up the backside Starmer needs if this Government is to stand any chance of getting any thing done. It is a mystery to me as to why he is still trying to appeal to rightwing voters who have repeatedly not wanted to vote for him and actually seem to despise him. And doing so at the expense of the Left wing vote which got him into power and is now losing faith in him.

      I always said his natal chart was too cautious for upcoming move of the outer planets into Aquarius/Aries/Gemini but I really thought his Virgo eye might actually be able to tick off a few things that were bothering people. But 14mths on and the only positives I can remember are a quick response to the riots and Trump’s tariffs.

      His lack of getting anything done reminds me of what a colleague said to me many years ago about work appraisals “You’re better off just doing lots of day-to-day work but never implementing anything, because if you put in a project and anything goes wrong, however minor, they’ll bring them up at review time and use it to justify no pay rise /bonus”.

      • I’ve heard two radio commentators saying it is a bad idea to move people from one brief to another. Especially when they are doing O. K. in one and because by constantly moving them, you don’t give them time to get accustomed to their department. Someone also added it is a “reshuffle without a theme” and that the chancellor, if I hear all right, is not on top of her job.

        • A potential problem with Virgo is they have huge belief that if you just organise and get the system right it will all work out. While there is some truth to that and , it’s also an analogy which is true for computer programming where if you tell it the right info, you’ll get the right outputs. Trouble is the real world has a lot more variables and intangibles than a programming language.

          My personal observation of encountering the Virgo Uranus-Pluto generation in management positions is they like to keep fiddling with the setup so nothing ever beds in. My cynicism always felt this repeated disruption (Uranus) was so they are able to stay busy (Virgo), be in control (Uranus) come in as the great saviour.

          • I think your insights are precious and correct.

            I am also so baffled by this government, which I don’t know what is it about, and I fail to have any sort of intuition on what motivated Starmer to be prime minister. Maybe status and recognition is part of it, but not enough to explain it in entirety to me.

            Another thing I do not get is how is it that they couldn’t have thought of a plan or vision on how to fix problems, surely not all, but at least some, they knew for years and years were plaguing the country.

            And even now it is just watching somebody not knowing what they are doing. They seem scared of losing power and seem aware it is slipping, but are also looking absolutely petrified and immovable in what they can do and offer to be done. “We want growth”, but no one knows how they think to achieve it or what they mean to do about it.

          • Why didn’t he stay a KC? It’s a well paid profession and I think it suits his chart very well. Instead he moved up the ladder and became Director of Public Prosecutions then around the time transit Neptune went over his Sun-Pluto opposite Jupiter – he went into politics. Ultimately some form of Virgoan hubris thinking he knows it all and can do better than others, he describes himself as very competitive but you’d never know that from his general demeanour.

            I suspect we underacknowledge the Libra element of his chart – mercury/moon/venus if I recall correctly. Virgo can procrastinate to avoid producing something less than perfect, Libra can procrastinate because it can’t decide whether to do this or that.

          • Interesting point about remaining a KC, GD. Sun/Pluto will be at the heart of his ambition I imagine. Sometimes Pluto seems to overwhelm a planet it conjuncts, perhaps abducting it in some way?
            Oddly, you reminded me of various times I wondered why another Mercury-ruled character, Boris Johnson, didn’t stay as a journalist, author, and TV presenter. His Gemini skills were well adapted for success in those fields, and his knowledge of Classical history and ability to explain it was a bonus. He certainly wasn’t cut out for the job of PM!

          • “Virgo can procrastinate to avoid producing something less than perfect”
            This is so true, GD. Describes my Virgo friend brilliantly.

    • Thanks Hugh
      The last point you make is in some ways the most pertinent.
      There is an ongoing change to the slower moving planets which will change the ground rules for politics.The politicians are, in the face of change, reviving their old hits- leaving the ECHR, cutting civil service, attacking nature, wealth taxes etc when something new will be needed.
      Our Virgo PM seems to aim for something perfect rather than for something that works. I suspect the budget will be more radical than intended if only to placate those on the left.

  6. The Guardian put the resignation report up at 7:01 am Sep 5, 2025. With Marjorie’s title, it seems to highlight the Aquarius moon. Change but no progress sounds very like the end of an Aquarian journey.

    That time aligns the nodes with the Virgo Asc-Pisces Dsc and puts the Moon in opposition to the Leo Venus. That struck me as possibly a good planet to describe this lady with her red mane.

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