Gordon Brown attempted to turn adversity to his advantage yesterday by using the departure of Peter Hain to bring on a group of talented young ministers and install the first husband-and-wife team in the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister began his premiership last June intending to leave ministers in their jobs for long periods, giving them time to learn their briefs and their departments. He was keen to get away from the ritual of the annual reshuffle. But Mr Hain’s resignation put paid to that ambition and created a domino effect.

James Purnell, 37, who has been at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport since June, was the big winner, the former adviser and speech-writer to Tony Blair being catapulted into Mr Hain’s job, one of the big-spending departments.

He is ideally placed, having been in the department as the junior pensions minister. Now it will be his task to take through pensions reform and changes to incapacity benefit to try to bring down the numbers of long-term unemployed. Yvette Cooper, who is married to Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, had been able to attend Cabinet as Housing Minister but was not a fully fledged member. Now she is, taking over as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, where her husband worked both as an adviser and in government, from Andy Burnham.

Mr Burnham, another avid Blairite, moved into Mr Purnell’s shoes at the Culture Department. In another advance, Caroline Flint moved from the Work and Pensions Department to the edge of Cabinet as Housing Minister.

A big surprise was the return to the Cabinet of the veteran Paul Murphy as Secretary of State for Wales, Mr Hain’s other job and one Mr Murphy has done before. He left the Cabinet in 2005 after a long spell as Northern Ireland Secretary and has since been chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. Mr Murphy will also chair a new committee on IT and information security and the committee on local government and the regions.

There is a promotion in the Lords for Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, a former aide to Neil Kinnock when opposition leader, who becomes Chief Whip, succeeding Lord Grocott.

Baroness Vadera, who worked for Mr Brown at the Treasury, moved from the International Development Department to John Hutton’s Business Department.

Lord Triesman, UnderSecretary at the Universities and Skills Department, is standing down to head the Football Association, to be replaced by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin. Stephen Timms becomes Mr Purnell’s No 2 at Work and Pensions.

Mr Purnell made a swift about-turn on becoming Culture Secretary. In 2003, he had publicly opposed London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games, saying that the cash would be better spent in schools. But he said he had subsequently changed his mind, and now fully backed the Games, after seeing the benefits the Commonwealth Games brought to Manchester.

By September he was warning the TV industry that he used to work for to “get their house in order” after a series of “fake” scandals.

But soon afterwards, he faced calls for his own resignation over a “faked” media appearance after it emerged his image had been electronically inserted into a group photograph of local dignitaries celebrating a hospital project.

His department admitted later that it had received an e-mail telling it about the superimposed image before it was sent to the press but that the message had not been shown to the Secretary of State, who denied all knowledge. It was a mishap but not one that worried the Prime Minsiter.

Baroness Vadera is replaced by Gillian Merron as junior minister at International Development, moving from the Cabinet Office.

Tom Watson, a former whip, takes Ms Merron’s old job at the Cabinet Office, where the current parliamentary secretary Phil Hope takes on an additional role as Minister for the East Midlands.

Liam Byrne, the Immigration Minister at the Home Office, takes on an additional role at the Treasury with responsibility for revenue protection at Britain’s borders.

Times Recommends

• Third of Muslim students back killings
• Curfew tames feral yobs of Cornwall
• £3,000-a-month drug free abroad