How will Starmer keep his backbenchers busy?

One of Keir Starmer’s very nice problems to have is that his majority is so big and many of his new MPs so experienced that he needs to work out how to keep them occupied. The Prime Minister gave a partial answer to that last night, appointing a number of figures who have only just entered parliament to the government.

This would be remarkable were it not for the fact that those new MPs really have got a lot of experience in government from previous jobs. Kirsty McNeill was made a parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Scotland Office – the most junior ministerial job. She worked for Gordon Brown in Downing Street, and the former prime minister will have made a strong argument for her to join the government this week. Her experience at executive level in government means she is better equipped than most MPs who’ve been in the role for a good few years.