New ministers "hit the ground running"

Shadow Chancellor Gordon Brown spent three hours in his new office and when he left the Treasury he took ministerial red boxes full of papers which he wants to absorb over the weekend. On Wednesday, he will have a meeting with Bank of England Governor Eddie George. On the agenda will be Mr George's request, made before the election, for interest rates to rise soon to head off inflation.

Almost the first official duty of the new Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, was a phone call from US Secretary of State Madeline Albright. A Foreign Office spokeswoman said Mrs Albright had said she was confident that Mr Blair would have an "excellent relationship" with President Clinton. The two leaders hope to have a bilateral meeting in the near future.

Education and Employment Secretary David Blunkett met journalists shortly after his appointment. He promised that "this will be a very different government in both style and substance". He said that it would be more receptive to outside proposals and stressed the importance of consultation - beginning with an early White Paper on education.

Mr Blunkett said that consulting people would indicate the Government's good faith, as well as lifting expectations and changing people's hearts and minds. He said the new Government knew that the only way it could deliver was "with the assistance of the people at the sharp end".