On the surface, Keir Starmer’s new shadow cabinet looks like a rejection of Corbynism. Over the past 24 hours, the new Labour leader has sacked most of his predecessor’s allies such as Ian Lavery, Richard Burgon, Shami Chakrabarti and Dawn Butler. But if you run through the list of appointments, and the names of those who remain, this is still a reshuffle designed not to upset Jeremy Corbyn’s allies.
There hasn’t been a full clear out, but the faces remaining are largely figures who were never really associated with Corbynism to begin with. Emily Thornberry is still in, but despite being very loyal to the leader, she was never a true Corbynite. She had taken care to stay quiet during the 2019 election campaign before vocally criticising Corbyn’s leadership after the result. She has always been politically flexible, and has been moved to International Trade.
Rebecca Long-Bailey gets Education: to pack her into a lesser job would have been an obviously brutal move against the Corbynites given she came second to Starmer in the contest.
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