The departures and demotions of better-known faces have rather overshadowed the appointment of new shadow cabinet members
The slow and steady drip-feed of news about Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet reshuffle has not so far been the inspiration for the most exciting headlines of the day. Perhaps this is intentional; having a reputation that makes John Major look like a home counties version of Silvio Berlusconi has hardly done the Labour leader any harm.
Still, given Labour expects this new team to lead the party into the next general election and to form the next cabinet, it badly needs some sort of eyebrow-raising moment, something to catch the eye and the attention of the average punter. Even Rishi Sunak’s understated reshuffle piqued some public interest. But so far, this reshuffle has been defined less by the appointment of new shadow cabinet members than by the departure and demotions of better known faces.
The exit of former shadow environment secretary Jim McMahon isn’t exactly big news, but there were many who had great hopes for the Oldham MP ever since he won the contest to replace his predecessor, Michael Meacher, in a by-election in 2015.
The demotion of Starmer’s former leadership rival, Lisa Nandy, sent packing to International Development, was also well trailed, though her replacement at Levelling Up, deputy leader Angela Rayner, is perhaps a signal that Starmer wants more focus on the Red Wall seats that fell to the Conservatives in 2019.