Starmer Shadow Cabinet | |
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Shadow Cabinet of the United Kingdom | |
2020–present | |
Date formed | 4 April 2020 |
People and organisations | |
Monarch | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Leader of the Opposition | Keir Starmer |
Shadow Deputy PM | Angela Rayner |
Member party | |
Status in legislature | Official Opposition 206 / 650 (32%) |
History | |
Legislature term(s) | 58th UK Parliament |
Incoming formation | 2020 leadership election |
Predecessor | Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn |
Keir Starmer became Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom after being elected as Leader of the Labour Party on 4 April 2020. [1] He appointed his Shadow Cabinet on 5 and 6 April. Starmer has reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet five times: in June 2020, May 2021, June 2021, November 2021 and September 2023.
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Elections Related | ||
Following the Labour Party's defeat in the 2019 general election, its leader Jeremy Corbyn stepped down and triggered a leadership election that would elect a new party leader and a new Leader of the Opposition. [2] Six candidates declared for the election, with three receiving sufficient nominations to advance to the ballot. Keir Starmer, MP for Holborn and St Pancras and Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, was elected over Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy. [3]
Starmer has reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet five times: in June 2020, May 2021, June 2021, November 2021 and September 2023. The Shadow Cabinet has been described as being dominated by Blairites since the last reshuffle in 2023. [4] [5]
Sits in the House of Commons | |
Sits in the House of Lords |
Sits in the House of Commons | |
Sits in the House of Lords |
Sits in the House of Commons | |
Sits in the House of Lords |
In April 2020, Starmer's shadow cabinet was appointed over the course of the week following the leadership election, which included former leader Ed Miliband, as well as both of the candidates he defeated in the contest. He also appointed Anneliese Dodds as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, making her the first woman to serve in that position in either a ministerial or shadow ministerial capacity. [10]
On 25 June 2020, Starmer dismissed his former leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey from her post as Shadow Secretary of State for Education. Long-Bailey had refused to delete a tweet calling the actress Maxine Peake an "absolute diamond" and linking to an interview in The Independent in which Peake said that the practice of kneeling on someone's neck by US police, as used in the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, was "learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services". The original article stated that "the Israeli police has denied this." [11] Starmer said that because the article "contained anti-Semitic conspiracy theories" it should not have been shared by Long-Bailey. [12] [13] The decision to dismiss Long-Bailey was criticised by the Socialist Campaign Group, whose members met with Starmer about the decision. [14] The decision was welcomed by some Jewish groups including the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Labour Movement. Starmer said that "restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it." [15] [16] On 27 June, he replaced her with Kate Green. [17]
On 23 September 2020, three frontbenchers (Olivia Blake, Nadia Whittome, and Beth Winter) rebelled against Labour's position of abstention on the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill and voted against the bill; all three lost their frontbench roles over the issue. This move was seen as an indication of the firm discipline Starmer intended to exert over his party. [18]
In the third reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill on 15 October 2020, the Labour Party stance was to abstain yet 34 Labour MPs rebelled, including shadow ministers Dan Carden and Margaret Greenwood, and five parliamentary private secretaries who all resigned from their frontbench roles. These 34 were penalised the next day by being put on probation for going against the one-line whip to abstain. [19]
In April 2023, after writing an article in The Observer, former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP pending an investigation. [20] [21] In the article, Abbott claimed that although "many types of white people with points of difference" such as Jewish, Irish or Traveller people can experience prejudice, they are not subject to racism "all their lives". [21] [20] Abbott later apologised for the article, saying that she had erroneously sent an early draft of her article. [20] A Labour Party statement said that the comments were "deeply offensive and wrong". [21] Starmer said that she was suspended due to anti-Semitism. [20]
In June 2023, Neal Lawson, the chair of the centre-left think tank, Compass, faced possible expulsion from the Labour Party after 44 years of membership due to tweeting in 2021 in favour of other political parties working together with Labour against the Tories. [22] In response to being notified of his possible expulsion, Lawson said that the party had become obsessed with "petty tyranny" and under the leadership of Keir Starmer the party had been captured by a clique who are "behaving like playground bullies". [22] Labour MP Jon Cruddas accused the party under Starmer of being right-wing, illiberal and of enacting a "witch-hunt", calling the decision regarding Lawson a "disgrace". [23]
In the aftermath of relatively poor results in the 2021 local elections, Starmer carried out a May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle. Starmer dismissed Angela Rayner as Chair of the Labour Party and National Campaign Coordinator following the elections. [24] [25] The move was criticised by John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester. [26] [27] The major outcome of the reshuffle was the demotion of the Shadow Chancellor, Anneliese Dodds. [28] Rachel Reeves was appointed as the new Shadow Chancellor and Angela Rayner succeeded Reeves as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Nick Brown was dismissed as Chief Whip and replaced by his deputy, Alan Campbell. Valerie Vaz departed as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons and was replaced by Thangam Debbonaire, who in turn was succeeded as Shadow Secretary of State for Housing by Lucy Powell. On 11 May 2021, Starmer's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) Carolyn Harris resigned, which The Times reported was after allegedly spreading false rumours about the private life of Angela Rayner prior to her dismissal. [29] [30] Sharon Hodgson was appointed as Starmer's new PPS. [31]
The November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, which was considered a surprise, [32] 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. [33] 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". [34] [35] 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." [36]
In September 2023, Starmer reshuffled his shadow cabinet for the third time since taking over as leader. [37] [38] Writers from The Guardian and Politico said that the Blairite wing of the party had prospered in the reshuffle to the detriment of the soft left of the party. [39] [40] One shadow minister, said of the reshuffle, "It's all the Blairites" and called it "an entirely factional takeover". [41] Starmer said that he was putting his "strongest possible players on the pitch" ahead of the upcoming general election. [42] Tom Belger writing for LabourList described the reshuffle as a continuing of "Labour’s right-ward march". [43]
Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner received the shadow levelling up post, replacing Lisa Nandy who was demoted to the shadow minister for international development. [42] The most senior members of the shadow cabinet remained in their positions. [42] Rosena Allin-Khan, who was the shadow minister for mental health before the reshuffle, resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, criticising shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's advocacy for outsourcing the NHS to the private sector. [44] She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet". [45] [46] [47] The reshuffle coincided with the start of the tenure of Sue Gray as Starmer's new chief of staff. [48]
The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition front bench provide Parliamentary opposition to the British Government front bench, and is currently the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer since April 2020.
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras since 2015. He was previously Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
Lisa Eva Nandy is a British Labour Party politician serving as Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development in 2023. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. Nandy previously served as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary and Shadow Energy Secretary.
Elizabeth Louise Kendall is a British Labour politician who has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since 2023. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West since 2010.
The Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a position in the British Shadow Cabinet, appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. The post involves holding the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to account, who has control over the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster. The position was re-established by Keir Starmer in April 2020, replacing the position of Shadow Lord President of the Council last held by Jon Trickett, which was split from Shadow Leader of the House of Commons by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Angela Rayner is a British politician serving as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020, and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2023. Rayner has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015. She ideologically identifies as a socialist and as being part of Labour's soft left.
Carolyn Harris is a Welsh politician serving as Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Swansea East since 2015.
Rebecca Roseanne Long-Bailey is a British politician and a solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, Long-Bailey served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2020.
Jeremy Corbyn assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 12 September 2015; the election was triggered by Ed Miliband's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2015 general election when David Cameron formed a majority Conservative government. The usual number of junior shadow ministers were also appointed.
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan is a British politician and medical doctor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting since 2016. A member of the Labour Party, she attended shadow cabinet as Shadow Minister for Mental Health from 2020 to 2023.
Eleanor Claire Reeves is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West and Penge since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator since 2023. She previously served as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales from April 2020 to December 2021 and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation from 2021 to 2023.
Alexander James Jordan Norris is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Nottingham North, and was first elected at the 2017 general election.
The Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 11 May 2015 by the Leader of the Opposition, Harriet Harman for her interim shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as Senior Member of the Shadow Cabinet, and from 2015 to 2023, the office was known as Shadow First Secretary of State.
Kim Marie Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Riverside since 2019.
Samuel Peter Tarry is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford South from 2019 until 2024 United Kingdom general election. He was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus. On 10 October 2022 he was deselected by the Ilford South Constituency Labour Party as its candidate for the next election.
Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet on 9 May 2021. This followed disappointing results for the Labour Party, including historic defeat in the Hartlepool by-election and the loss of hundreds of councillors in local elections across England.
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.
The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. From 2020 to 2024, His Majesty's Loyal Opposition was the Labour Party, and the Leader of the Opposition was Keir Starmer.
The Labour Party leadership of Keir Starmer began when Keir Starmer was elected as Leader of the UK Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election. Starmer's tenure as leader has been characterised by movement towards the political centre and abandonment of much of the left-wing platform of his leadership campaign, as well as by opposition to some of the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and various other issues involving the government, including Partygate, the cost of living crisis, and the industrial disputes.
On 4 September 2023, Keir Starmer, Leader of the UK Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. This was his third major reshuffle and was described as promoting his loyalists to senior roles.