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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. [1] [2] [3] [4] This was his third major reshuffle and was described as promoting his loyalists to senior roles. [5]
Starmer's deputy Angela Rayner received the shadow levelling up post, replacing Lisa Nandy who was demoted to the shadow minister for international development. [6] The most senior members of the shadow cabinet remained in their positions. [6] 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. [7] She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet". [8] [9] [10] The reshuffle coincided with the start of the tenure of Sue Gray as Starmer's new chief of staff. [11]
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. [12] [13] One shadow minister, said of the reshuffle, "It's all the Blairites" and called it "an entirely factional takeover". [14] Starmer said that he was putting his "strongest possible players on the pitch" ahead of the upcoming general election. [6] Tom Belger writing for LabourList described the reshuffle as a continuing of "Labour's right-ward march". [15]
The last shadow cabinet reshuffle was carried out in November 2021. [16] Since then the Labour Party has performed strongly in opinion polls in the lead up to the 2024 general election. [17] Labour gains in the by-elections in Wakefield and Selby and Ainsty consolidated their electoral performance as did the 2022 local elections. [18] In August 2023, it was speculated in the media that Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner could have her responsibilities changed. [19] It was reported that most "big guns" were considered to be safe. [20] The reshuffle coincided with the appointment of Sue Gray as Chief of Staff to Keir Starmer. [21]
Sue Gray took a leading role in the reshuffle. [22] It included the promotion of Blairites Hilary Benn and Pat McFadden who served under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. [23] Lisa Nandy lost her role as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to become a shadow foreign office minister, the Shadow Overseas Development Minister, which was described by Sam Coates as "unambiguously a demotion". [24] Labour have stated their intention to reinstate the Department for International Development if they win office. Fellow Greater Manchester MP Angela Rayner became the new shadow levelling up secretary [22] and was also given the new role of Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. [25] This consolidated her role in any future Labour government. [26] Gray was involved in negotiations with Rayner over her position. [22]
Hilary Benn returned to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for the first time since he resigned as Shadow Foreign Secretary in 2016 under Jeremy Corbyn. [27] Gray is believed to have been involved in this appointment as well. [28] Jim McMahon resigned as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, citing ill health, and returned to the backbenches. [29]
Rosena Allin-Khan resigned from the Shadow Cabinet, criticising Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting's advocacy for outsourcing the National Health Service (NHS) to the private sector. [30] She also said that Starmer did "not see a space for a mental health portfolio in a Labour cabinet". [31] [32] [33]
John Rentoul wrote in The Independent that Starmer delaying the reshuffle was to avoid a revolt from the left wing of the party. [34] The promotion of Andrew Gwynne, a former ally of Jeremy Corbyn from the left of the party, was seen as Starmer extending an olive branch to the party's left wing. [35]
Both Momentum and Compass accused Starmer of promoting a "narrow band of Blairites". [36] Starmer was described as demoting figures from the soft left of the party and promoting in their place his loyalists as well as Blairites. [37] [38] [39] While there were leading figures on the soft left who remained in the shadow cabinet, such as Ed Miliband, Louise Haigh and Angela Rayner, the faction was thought to have lost most of its influence. [40] Owen Jones criticised the amount of Blairites in the new shadow cabinet. [41] Andrew Fisher who was Director of Policy of the Labour Party, under leader Jeremy Corbyn described Starmer as a "weak leader" surrounded by yes men. [42] A shadow minister described the reshuffle as a factional takeover and described it as "all the Blairites" and a "shoring up of the right of the party". [43] Likewise, editor at LabourList, Tom Belger, wrote of the reshuffle, "More Blairites than Blair" and quoted an MP that stated "even Blair didn't have this many Blairites in his cabinet". Belger also stated that the reshuffle signified that "Labour's right-ward march continues". [44]
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These roles were left vacant following the cabinet-level changes:
On 5 and 6 September, a number of junior changes were announced: [46] [47]
Minister | Position(s) before reshuffle | Position(s) after reshuffle | |
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Stephen Morgan MP | Shadow Schools Minister | Shadow Minister for Rail | |
Catherine McKinnell MP | Chair of the Petitions Committee | Shadow Schools Minister | |
Abena Oppong-Asare MP | Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | Shadow Minister Women's Health and Mental Health | |
Alex Norris MP | Shadow Minister for Levelling Up | Shadow Minister for Policing | |
Sarah Jones MP | Shadow Minister for Policing and the Fire Service | Shadow Minister for Industry and Decarbonisation (new role) | |
Dan Jarvis MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Security | |
Holly Lynch MP | Shadow Minister for Security | Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons (Legislation) | |
Seema Malhotra MP | Shadow Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets | Shadow Minister for Skills | |
Chris Bryant MP | Chair of the Commons Committee on Standards | Shadow Minister for Creative Industries and Digital | |
Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi MP | Shadow Minister for Rail | Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | |
Andrew Gwynne MP | Shadow Minister for Public Health | Shadow Minister for Social Care | |
Jessica Morden MP | Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons | Shadow Minister for Wales and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition | |
Rushanara Ali MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Investment and Small Business | |
Karin Smyth MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Health | |
Fleur Anderson MP | Shadow Paymaster General | Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland | |
Justin Madders MP | Shadow Minister for Employment Rights and Protection | Shadow Minister for Business, Employment Rights and Levelling Up | |
Gareth Thomas MP | Shadow Minister for International Trade | Shadow Minister for Trade | |
Afzal Khan MP | Shadow Minister for Legal Aid | Shadow Minister for Exports | |
Alan Whitehead MP | Shadow Minister for Green New Deal and Energy | Shadow Minister for Energy Security | |
Jeff Smith MP | Shadow Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Music | Shadow Minister for Clean Power and Consumers | |
Stephanie Peacock MP | Shadow Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure | Shadow Minister for Sport, Gambling and Media | |
Lilian Greenwood MP | Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons | Shadow Minister for Arts, Heritage and Civil Society | |
Barbara Keeley MP | Shadow Minister for Arts and Civil Society | Shadow Minister for Music and Tourism | |
Toby Perkins MP | Shadow Minister for Apprenticeships and Lifelong Learning | Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs | |
Emma Hardy MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience | |
Anna McMorrin MP | Shadow Minister for Victims and Youth Justice | Shadow Minister for Latin America and the Caribbean | |
Feryal Clark MP | Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety | Shadow Minister for Health | |
Nick Smith MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons | |
Florence Eshalomi MP | Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office | Shadow Minister for Democracy | |
Paula Barker MP | Shadow Minister for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping | Shadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions | |
Mike Amesbury MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Building Safety and Homelessness | |
Imran Hussain MP | Shadow Minister for Work | Shadow Minister for the New Deal for Working People | |
Maria Eagle MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Procurement | |
Janet Daby MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Youth Justice | |
Kevin Brennan MP | Backbench MP | Shadow Minister for Victims and Sentencing | |
Ruth Cadbury MP | Shadow Minister for International Trade | Shadow Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation | |
Alex Davies-Jones MP | Shadow Minister for Tech, Gambling and Digital Economy | Shadow Minister for Tech and Digital Economy | |
Matt Rodda MP | Shadow Minister for Pensions | Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property | |
Gerald Jones MP | Shadow Minister for Wales | Shadow Minister for Scotland | |
Bill Esterson MP | Shadow Minister for Business and Industry | Shadow Minister for Roads | |
Simon Lightwood MP | Shadow Minister for Buses and Taxis | Shadow Minister for Local Transport | |
Chris Evans MP | Shadow Minister for Defence Procurement | Shadow Minister for Social Security | |
Gill Furniss MP | Shadow Minister for Roads | Shadow Minister for Pensions | |
Mark Tami MP | Opposition Pairing Whip | Opposition Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Commons (Accommodation and Pairing) | |
Alex Sobel MP | Shadow Minister for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment | Backbench MP | |
Nia Griffith MP | Shadow Minister for Exports | Shadow Minister in the Cabinet Office | |
Fabian Hamilton MP | Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament, Latin America and the Caribbean | Backbench MP | |
Liz Twist MP | Shadow Minister for Scotland | Backbench MP |
These roles were vacant on 6 September:
In British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party and Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and those that support him, known as Blairites. It entered the New Penguin English Dictionary in 2000. Elements of the ideology include investment in public services, expansionary efforts in education to encourage social mobility, and increased actions in terms of mass surveillance alongside a ramping up of law enforcement powers, both of these latter changes advocated in the context of fighting organized crime and terrorism. Blairites have additionally been known for their contrast with the traditional support for socialism by those believing in left-wing politics, with Blair himself and others speaking out against the nationalisation of major industries and against also heavy regulations of business operations. On foreign policy, Blairism is supportive of close relations with the United States and liberal interventionism, including advocacy for both the Iraq war and the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
Andrew John Gwynne is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gorton and Denton, previously Denton and Reddish, since 2005. He was Shadow Minister for Social Care from 2023 to the 2024 election. He is currently serving as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention.
Patrick Bosco McFadden is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wolverhampton South East since 2005. McFadden has previously held various junior ministerial positions and shadow portfolios in his parliamentary career between 2005 and 2024.
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SirKeir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and barrister who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. Previously Leader of HM Opposition from 2020 to 2024, he has represented Holborn and St Pancras as its Member of Parliament (MP) since 2015, having previously been Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013.
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Angela Rayner is a British politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since July 2024. She has been Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020 and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashton-under-Lyne since 2015. Ideologically she identifies as a socialist and as being part of Labour's soft left. She is a member of both the Labour party and the Co-operative party although she rarely refers to herself as Labour & Co-operative.
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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.
Alexander James Jordan Norris is a British Labour and Co-op politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Nottingham North and Kimberley, previously Nottingham North, since 2017. He has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Democracy and Local Growth since July 2024.
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Keir Starmer assumed the position of Leader of the Opposition after being elected as leader of the Labour Party on 4 April 2020; the election was triggered by Jeremy Corbyn's resignation following the Labour Party's electoral defeat at the 2019 general election when Boris Johnson formed a majority Conservative government. Starmer appointed his Shadow Cabinet on 5 and 6 April. He reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet five times: in June 2020, May 2021, June 2021, November 2021 and 2023.
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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.
Sam White is a British political adviser. He is best known as Chief of Staff to Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer during the period Labour gained a substantive poll lead.
Keir Starmer served as Leader of the Opposition from April 2020, following the resignation of Jeremy Corbyn after Labour's defeat at the 2019 general election and Starmer's election as Labour leader in the ensuing leadership election, until his party won a landslide victory at the 2024 general election in July 2024. During his tenure, Starmer moved Labour toward the political centre and emphasised the elimination of antisemitism within the party.
The Starmer ministry began on 5 July 2024 when Keir Starmer was invited by King Charles III to form a government, following the resignation of Rishi Sunak after the general election on 4 July 2024.