Oliver Dowden compares Rayner and Starmer to Holly and Phil
Sir Keir Starmer will today carry out a major reshuffle of his shadow cabinet, going much further than Rishi Sunak’s set of small changes last week.
The Labour leader is expected to form his final Shadow Cabinet team ahead of the General Election next year, with the changes being spun as Sir Keir’s opportunity to finally stamp his full authority over the Labour Party.
Sir Keir’s previous reshuffles have involved making concessions to certain power brokers and factions within his party. Today he will have full say over who gets what job.
The main speculation is about Angela Rayner’s future. While she was elected to the deputy leadership by party members, and unmovable from that role, her shadow ministerial portfolio is dictated by Keir Starmer.
Her current list of jobs, which were mercilessly mocked by the Tories after Sir Keir last failed to demote her, include Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work.
READ MORE: Starmer mocked with Sunak to ‘go early’ claim on next general election
It’s thought she is set to get the Levelling Up and Local Government brief, currently held by Lisa Nandy.
While this would be a demotion from the Cabinet Office, Sir Keir is said to believe it would be a “natural fit” for her in Government.
The Times previously reported it “would allow her to utilise her good relationships with regional politicians such as Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and could also allow her to retain elements of her existing portfolio, for example constitutional reform”.
Sir Keir’s deputy has often been frustrated with his past reshuffles, including not being clued into when they are happening.
In 2021 Ms Rayner was “blindsided” by a reshuffle, telling allies she’d been frustrated the news had overshadowed her keynote speech to the Institute for Government.
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This morning the Mail reports Keir Starmer is also under pressure from some in his top team to sack Ed Miliband as his energy spokesperson.
A shadow cabinet member said it is time to “rid ourselves of the ghost of Ed Miliband”, not least as the Tories hope to use the environment as a wedge issue at the election.
Another said the Labour leader has been “listening to Ed too much”.
The reshuffle is set to see a number of demotions for Sir Keir’s female spokespeople, including chairman Anneliese Dodds and Lisa Nandy, who will have to be demoted to make way for Angela Rayner if she receives the levelling up portfolio.
Ex-Partygate inquisitor Sue Gray is also set to start her new job as Sir Keir’s Chief of Staff today, working on preparing Labour for Government.
She had been barred from starting work for six months by the independent anti-sleaze body ACOBA, because of her top-level knowledge of sensitive Government information.
Ms Gray will plan a big shake-up of the civil service, in order to ensure Labour can enact its desired policies once in Government.
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