Labour reshuffle: Keir Starmer's new team

Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet reshuffle is finally over. The Labour leader ran into trouble early on when he kicked off the shake up of his frontbench team on Saturday afternoon by sacking his deputy Angela Rayner from her role as party chair. His plan for a wider reshuffle had to be put on hold after his decision to demote Rayner succeeded in uniting MPs on both the left and right of the party in anger.

Since then, the pair have spent much of the day in talks over a reconciliation. With Starmer eventually finding Rayner a job she would accept as Michael. Gove’s opposite in the role of Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Starmer was able to press on with the rest of the reshuffle.

For all the rumours of drastic change, the reshuffle is more modest than certain briefings suggested. Despite reports that shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy could be demoted along with shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth, both have remained in position. Starmer has, however, demoted Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor and appointed Rachel Reeves in her place. He has also sacked his former chief whip Nick Brown.

Presenting his new shadow cabinet, the Labour leader claimed his ‘refreshed and renewed team’ was ready to take on the challenge presented in the local elections – a challenge that will ‘require bold ideas and a relentless focus on the priorities of the British people’. However, the drawn out process that it took to get here means that for many MPs, the reshuffle has only served to show how Starmer’s authority has been weakened by the local election results and his actions in response to them. In contrast, his deputy Rayner appears to have strengthened her position.

Here are the appointments in full:

Deputy Leader, Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work – Angela Rayner

Party Chair & Chair of Labour Policy Review – Anneliese Dodds

National Campaign Coordinator – Shabana Mahmood

Shadow Chief Whip – Alan Campbell

Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer – Rachel Reeves