Miliband urges abolition of shadow cabinet elections

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

In an email to Labour MPs, Ed Miliband will back proposals to abolish shadow cabinet elections – less than a year after the PLP voted to retain them. Miliband will also make this aim part of his major speech to Labour’s national policy forum on Saturday.

A source close to Miliband told LabourList this evening that the Labour leader considers shadow cabinet elections ” a distraction”, and reflects his concern that Labour needs to spend more time facing outwards, rather than talking about ourselves. Ed is also thought to consider the elections a “legacy of Labour’s past in opposition”.

As the PLP voted for the shadow cabinet elections to be retained just before Miliband became leader, they will be given a debate and a vote on the proposal. Conference will also vote on the plans (in a roundabout way), as the Refounding Labour document will contact submissions calling for the end to shadow cabinet elections.

To be clear – I publically supported shadow cabinet elections a year ago. However, having seen the unedifying spectacle up close, I’m no longer convinced that a popularity contest (which is what these elections undoubtedly are) is the best way to select the best placed MPs to scrutinise a government – and more importantly to be future members of the executive branch. The relative anonymity of much of the shadow cabinet (even as far as LabourList readers are concerned) shows some of the weakness of the current system. However, I am still concerned about the prevalence of patronage from the leader. A compromise between the two systems would seem sensible.

Why this is being brought up now is already hotly debated. Some shadow cabinet sources indicate that Miliband is trying to put the issue to rest well ahead of the next shadow cabinet elections, so that he isn’t accused of abolishing them at short notice. However, some party insiders have indicated that this could be a cunning way of bringing back big-hitters (such as Alan Johnson, and of course David Miliband) in an early reshuffle, without the inconvenience of waiting for the next shadow cabinet election in nearly 18 months time.