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".[6][7] 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."[8]
Jessica Morden becomes Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons
Reaction
Resignation of Cat Smith
Before the reshuffle was underway, Cat Smith resigned as Shadow Secretary of State for Young People and Democracy, despite Starmer asking her to stay in her position. In her resignation letter, Smith described the ongoing suspension of Jeremy Corbyn as "utterly unsustainable" and voiced her concern that the situation was damaging the party.[15][16]
Failure to inform Angela Rayner
Deputy Leader of the Labour PartyAngela Rayner was not notified of the reshuffle, as it was first reported while she was making a keynote speech on Parliamentary Standards at the Institute for Government. The resignation tweet from Cat Smith was sent out during the Q&A section, so Rayner was caught off guard.[17] Starmer was criticised for not notifying his deputy before announcing the reshuffle.[18]Lisa Nandy dismissed claims that Rayner had been humiliated over the alleged snub, stating that the reshuffle showed "we’re moving north" to a question on Sky News asking about the left–right focus on the reshuffle which had been discussed in the media.[19] A similar rift occurred at the reshuffle in May 2021, in which Rayner was demoted from her position as party chair and national campaign coordinator after Labour's heavy loss in the 2021 Hartlepool by-election.[20][21]
Yvette Cooper's appointment as Shadow Home Secretary was one of the most significant changes announced by Starmer, as it returned her to the role she had previously occupied in 2015 as a member of the Miliband shadow cabinet. The move was seen as a shift towards the right and a further departure from the Corbyn era.[22]Jon Craig of Sky News described Cooper as "Labour's lost leader" and speculated that her comeback would increase her odds of one day succeeding Starmer.[23]
The decision to move Lisa Nandy from her position as Shadow Foreign Secretary would have typically been regarded as a demotion; however, it was widely reported to be positive, as her new role would involve opposing the Johnson government's flagship levelling up policy and facing Michael Gove across the dispatch box.[27] Nandy's experience as a Northern MP and interest in the importance of towns have been cited as making her well-suited to the portfolio.[28][29]
Laura Kuenssberg of BBC News wrote that the slimmed down shadow cabinet aimed to "combine experience and youth".[33]Robert Peston of ITV News described the reshuffle as abandoning "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions". Instead, Starmer has "chosen shadow ministers for their perceived ability".[34]Stephen Bush of the New Statesman presented a more critical perspective on the reshuffle, arguing that certain appointments (such as moving to Streeting to Health rather than Education) did not appear to "make sense".[35] Former Shadow ChancellorJohn McDonnell, who had served under Jeremy Corbyn, stated that the reshuffle "[gave] the impression of Christmas Past not Christmas Future", while criticising the perceived promotion of "Blairite" MPs.[36]
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