Keir Starmer would have been hoping for a case of second time lucky today as he reshuffles his front bench again, following a botched attempt in the aftermath of the local election results. Back then, the Labour leader got off to a bad start when he tried to move his deputy Angela Rayner from one of her briefs. She refused and then the whole reshuffle ground to a halt. In the end, Rayner ended up with more jobs than she started.
This time around there are similar hints of trouble. Rayner has spent her morning giving a speech on Labour’s plan to clamp down on outside interests (my piece from earlier this month explains why she is fronting this campaign) which her supporters saw as headline news. But now Rayner needs to compete with a reshuffle that she appears not to have been fully briefed on.
Some Labour sources are alleging Rayner was more up to date than she and her team are letting on.
Asked about an impending reshuffle this morning in the Q&A, Rayner said:
‘I don’t know the details of any reshuffle, I’ve been concentrating on the job I have been doing’.
Figures on both sides have since confirmed that Rayner was informed between her media round and speech that one was imminent. Those on Rayner’s side say she has not been consulted on its contents (already one of her team, Cat Smith, has been axed). Meanwhile, some Labour sources are alleging Rayner was more up to date than she and her team are letting on – suggesting her aides are trying to make mischief.
So what is Starmer trying to achieve? There has been an appetite for a reshuffle in the Labour leader’s office ever since the last. After that botched shake-up saw Starmer weakened rather than strengthened, he was unable to move people he had planned to. It follows that this latest reshuffle is about tidying up loose ends and using Starmer’s improved position (after wins on rule changes at Labour conference and recent Tory troubles) to bring his preferred people into more senior roles. As a general direction of travel those on the right of the party are expected to fare better than those on the left.
Full details of the moves will follow on Coffee House as they happen, with shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds and shadow education secretary Kate Green among those demoted. New hires so far include the return of Yvette Cooper to the shadow home secretary brief – where she will face Priti Patel.
The risk? That the confusion surrounding the reshuffle – and how little Rayner was consulted – makes it much easier for the Tories to go on the attack the next time Starmer tries to capitalise on Tory disunity at PMQs. Starmer will now need to get enough out of the reshuffle politically in order to make that worth it.
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