Jeremy Corbyn’s lack of experience in office makes it hard to predict how he will act as Labour leader. His tens of thousands of supporters are crowing that a new political age will begin on Saturday and are looking forward to a shadow cabinet made of like-minded folk from the hard-left — Diane Abbott, Michael Meacher etc. But the signs so far suggest that Corbyn as Labour leader will operate differently to Corbyn to march leader.
Today’s Guardian offers an explanation why. The list of shadow cabinet ministers who would refuse to serve under Corbyn is growing, along with a unease among Labour MPs about a split between its Parliamentary party and grassroots. Chris Leslie, Emma Reynolds, Yvette Cooper and Tristram Hunt have all definitely said no, while Chuka Umunna and Mary Creagh among others are seen as likely to decline a shadow cabinet perch. But the paper also reports that the left-wing Compass group, whose leader Neal Lawson voted for Corbyn, is expected to call on him to ‘appoint a broad-based shadow cabinet’.
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