UK shadow cabinet reshuffle
On 29 November 2021, Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. The slimmed down shadow cabinet, was seen to be Starmer creating a top team in his own image.
Considered a surprise, this reshuffle included the promotion of Yvette Cooper and David Lammy to Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary, respectively, while Miliband was moved from Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy to Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero. The appointment of Cooper in particular was described by some commentators as a sign of Labour further splitting from the Corbyn leadership and moving to the right.
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston of ITV News said that the reshuffle aimed to "combine experience and youth" and end "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions", and instead chose "shadow ministers for their perceived ability". In the "New Statesman", journalist Stephen Bush suggested that Starmer had "removed underperforming shadow cabinet ministers and rewarded his biggest hitters – but the resulting shadow cabinet looks to be less than the sum of its parts."
Junior-level changes.
On 4 December 2021, "LabourList" reported the junior changes to the frontbench.
Reaction.
Resignation of Cat Smith.
Before the reshuffle was underway, Cat Smith resigned as Shadow Secretary of State for Young People and Democracy, despite Starmer asking her to stay in her position. In her resignation letter, Smith described the ongoing suspension of Jeremy Corbyn as "utterly unsustainable" and voiced her concern that the situation was damaging the party.
Failure to inform Angela Rayner.
Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner was not notified of the reshuffle, as it was first reported while she was making a keynote speech on Parliamentary Standards at the Institute for Government. The resignation tweet from Cat Smith was sent out during the Q&amp;A section, so Rayner was caught off guard. Starmer was criticised for not notifying his deputy before announcing the reshuffle. Lisa Nandy dismissed claims that Rayner had been humiliated over the alleged snub, stating that the reshuffle showed "we’re moving north" to a question on "Sky News" asking about the left–right focus on the reshuffle which had been discussed in the media. A similar rift occurred at the reshuffle in May 2021, in which Rayner was demoted from her position as party chair and national campaign coordinator after Labour's heavy loss in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.
Appointment of Yvette Cooper.
Yvette Cooper's appointment as Shadow Home Secretary was one of the most significant changes announced by Starmer, as it returned her to the role she had previously occupied in 2015 as a member of the Miliband shadow cabinet. The move was seen as a shift towards the right and a further departure from the Corbyn era. Jon Craig of Sky News described Cooper as "Labour's lost leader" and speculated that her comeback would increase her odds of one day succeeding Starmer.
Other appointments.
David Lammy was promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary. He had served as a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and in the weeks before the reshuffle had been under scrutiny for his second job. His appointment was criticised in the "Daily Telegraph".
The decision to move Lisa Nandy from her position as Shadow Foreign Secretary would have typically been regarded as a demotion; however, it was widely reported to be positive, as her new role would involve opposing the Johnson government's flagship levelling up policy and facing Michael Gove across the dispatch box. Nandy's experience as a Northern MP and interest in the importance of towns have been cited as making her well-suited to the portfolio.
Former Leader of the Labour Party Ed Miliband was moved to a new role, from Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to Shadow Climate Change Secretary. While he had been praised for his speeches during the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, his responsibilities may have been reduced in response to his outspoken support for the public ownership of energy companies.
Laura Kuenssberg of BBC News wrote that the slimmed down shadow cabinet aimed to "combine experience and youth". Robert Peston of "ITV News" described the reshuffle as abandoning "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions". Instead, Starmer has "chosen shadow ministers for their perceived ability". Stephen Bush of the "New Statesman" presented a more critical perspective on the reshuffle, arguing that certain appointments (such as moving to Streeting to Health rather than Education) did not appear to "make sense". Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who had served under Jeremy Corbyn, stated that the reshuffle "[gave] the impression of Christmas Past not Christmas Future", while criticising the perceived promotion of "Blairite" MPs.
The reshuffle was considered to boost Labour's chances in the Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election four days later. However, it lost the by-election.
References.
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