Top jobs for former Sea Lord and ex-police chief as Brown unveils his new team

Admiral Sir Alan West, Sir Ara Darzi, Sir Digby Jones and Shriti Vadera are all tipped for seats behind Government desks.

In another coup for the new Prime Minister, former Met chief Lord Stevens agreed to be his security adviser.

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All five names bring Mr Brown closer to his promise of a government of all the talents.

Sir Ara, now Lord Darzi, will join the Department of Health as minister in charge of the review of London hospitals - pointing to major reforms ahead.

One of the most respected surgeons in the country, he was unable to speak today because he was performing a full schedule of surgery.

Ms Vadera, who is to be Minister for Overseas Development, was embroiled in the public-private partnership for the Tube, which put Mr Brown on a collision course with Ken Livingstone. She was also accused of engineering the insolvency of Railtrack to deprive investors of £6 billion in compensation - calling small investors "grannies who would lose their blouses".

Critics say she is intimidating and rude, but she is one of the most trusted members of Mr Brown's inner circle, valued for her judgment and hard work.

Sir Alan becomes a Home Office Minister with a special security brief. He is no crony and has clashed repeatedly with Mr Brown, saying recently that Britain would be left with " tinpotî Armed Forces if more money was not spent on them.

He was so concerned about the Iraq invasion that he took independent-legal advice to be sure his personnel could not be tried for war crimes.

Former CBI chief Sir Digby Jones gets an instant peerage and joins the new enterprise department as Minister for Trade and Investment.

Lord Stevens will advise on security matters from outside the Government. The peer is currently advising the Conservatives on border security, and his appointment snuffs out any hope among Tories that the former policeman might be their candidate for London mayor.

As the reshuffle dribbled out, Mr Brown was tipped to reward a key rebel who took part in last September's coup against Tony Blair. Welsh MP Wayne David, who resigned as a ministerial aide as part of the attempt to drive Mr Blair from office, was expected to be a junior minister.

Eyebrows would be raised if more rebels were given posts.

In main appointments, Tony McNulty will remain Home Office Minister responsible for security. No 10 also confirmed two Liberal Democrats will get advisory posts.

They are Baroness Neuberger, who was Britain's second female rabbi and will advise on volunteering, and Lord Lester, who will advise on constitutional reform.

Later, No 10 was set to confirm the appointment of three business chiefs to a new Business Council: Sir Alan Sugar, star of The Apprentice; Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy; and venture capitalist Damon Buffini.

Among other changes, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram was replaced by Bob Ainsworth, the former deputy chief whip. Pat McFadden was tipped to be Minister for Business Promotion. Jim Murphy, a Blairite, was appointed Minister for Europe.