Barack Obama was putting the finishing touches to his Cabinet yesterday with three more appointments that underline his desire for an ethnically diverse, but politically centrist team.

He was expected to name Ray LaHood as Transport Secretary, Hispanic Congresswoman Hilda Solis as Labour Secretary and Ron Kirk, the former Mayor of Dallas, as trade representative.

Mr Kirk is a proponent of free trade, while Ms Solis is close to union leaders who remain angry about deals such as Nafta. Mr LaHood joins Defence Secretary Robert Gates as a fellow Republican team member.

Yesterday's announcements leave only a few key jobs unfilled before Mr Obama departs for his Christmas holiday in Hawaii. Among them the main positions are the Director of National Intelligence and CIA chief.

Ms Solis's appointment means that his team includes four African-Americans, three Latinos and two Asian Americans.

But liberals have complained that the Cabinet contains few progressives, with most of those appointed having experience from Bill Clinton's Administration or ties to the moderate Democratic Leadership Council.

Al From, the DLC's founder, said yesterday: “Obama made a big promise that he was going to transcend the old politics and create a post-partisan politics. The first test of that was to reach out and appoint people to the Cabinet that moved beyond party, and I think he has done that.”

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