It’s been a bruising few days for Keir Starmer. Disappointing results for the party in the north of England in the local elections have been made worse by his botched attempt over the weekend to reshuffle the shadow cabinet.
The Labour leader’s hopes for a swift refresh of his frontbench team hit a block in the road when his decision to sack his deputy Angela Rayner as party chairman led to a backlash from his MPs. After much negotiation, Starmer eventually managed to complete his reshuffle late on Sunday night.
During the meeting there was – according to one attendee – ‘plenty of grandstanding’
Today Starmer attempted to draw a line over recent events. The Labour leader met with his recently refreshed team in parliament to try to reset the news agenda and set out Labour’s priorities going forward. However, with the event of the reshuffle fresh in the mind of his MPs, it ought not come as a huge surprise that attendees describe the two-hour long meeting as a rather awkward affair. Those
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