Michael Dugher was sacked while his key ally and Labour deputy leader Tom Watson was out of the country, Coffee House has learned.
Jeremy Corbyn’s reshuffle may have been limited, but it included a clear attempt to undermine alternative Shadow Cabinet powerbases, including the notion that Tom Watson can protect his allies on the frontbench.
But Labour’s Deputy Leader was on holiday in Lanzarote when the reshuffle started, apparently unaware that there was going to be a reshuffle at the start of the week when Parliament was still in recess. I understand that he was told that Dugher would be sacked on Monday night. The Shadow Culture Secretary lost his job the following morning, before Watson’s return.
When approached for a comment, Watson’s spokesman said: ‘Tom returned from a short break in Lanzarote on the day that Michael was sacked.’
Chances are that Watson, as powerful a figure as he is in the Labour party, would not have been able to save Dugher had he been in Westminster. But the fact that he wasn’t included in the reshuffle discussions, or told when those discussions would be, shows that he is not viewed as a safe ally by the Labour leadership, and therefore, that they don’t think Watson is in any way powerless.
Many people in Labour see him as the person most likely to unite the party if and when the Corbyn project implodes. And those who know the West Bromwich East MP say they think he’s most likely to serve up his own revenge when it is very cold indeed – icy in fact – and Corbyn’s camp will have judged that too. The balance of power between the two men over the next few months and possibly years is going to be fascinating.
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