Shadow cabinet reshuffle liveblog
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Reddit22.31 – A couple of shadow ministerial changes (not cabinet) to tell you about. In addition to Tom Harris going to DEFRA, Catherine McKinnell will be joining the Treasury team (replacing Owen Smith) and Lisa Nandy joins the Education team.
If there are more sub cabinet roles reshuffled, we’ll start another liveblog to catalogue them. Lucky you.
16.54 – So Cruddas is now Labour’s full-time in-house policy thinker. Liam Byrne remains in the DWP brief (albeit after a great deal of speculation that has weakened his position). Owen Smith joins the Shadow Cabinet. And Lord Adonis will be taking on an industrial Strategy role. And last, but very much not least, Angela Eagle will Chair the NPF.
Full analysis coming up – but thanks for sticking with us through this (admittedly long) reshuffle liveblog.
16.45 – Reshuffle in full. The Party have just announced:
Jon Cruddas is to become Coordinator of the Labour Party Policy Review.
Ed Miliband will recommend to the National Policy Forum that Angela Eagle becomes its new chair.
Owen Smith is to replace Peter Hain as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
Andrew Adonis will advise the Policy Review on areas of Labour’s industrial strategy.
16.30 – Amber Elliot from Total Politics suggests that Lord Adonis was considered for the policy review role (he was a former head of the No 10 policy unit) but Cruddas pipped him to the role.
16.18 – So if Owen Smith is promoted, the Treasury team will need a new face. And no word on Liam Byrne’s DWP role yet. Looks like he’s gone from the policy review – but since there’s no chatter about DWP, is he still in the shadow cabinet?
16.15 – James has also heard Angela Eagle will chair the NPF. Would make sense if true, she’s widely respected across the party, smart and won’t ruffle too many feathers.
16.12 – According to James Lyons of the Mirror – Jon Cruddas has got the policy review. We said yesterday he was interested in making a return.
16.02 – Tom Harris will be back on the frontbench I’m told – going to be part of the shadow DEFRA team.
15.58 – We expect the full result in an hour, but Owen Smith looks almost certain to be shadow Welsh secretary.
14.56 – The BBC have made their own list of MPs who might replace Peter Hain. Alongside the names we’ve already mentioned, they’ve included Wayne David, Huw Irranca-Davies and Nia Griffith – all of whom would be in with a shout.
14.02 – Not much happening on the reshuffle yet. Or as one hack said to me this afternoon – this is putting the shuffle in reshuffle. Groan.
13.39 – Plenty of people contacting me since in mentioned Owen Smith. He’s clearly a man with fans. Keep an eye on him.
12.22 – A few people have asked in the last 24 hours why I didn’t have Owen Smith down as one of the favourites to replace Hain as Shadow Welsh Secretary. He’s a big talent, and someone I expect to become a big player in the future, but right now he’s at the heart of the action in the shadow Treasury team. I’d be surprised to see him moved from there.
11.15 – Quick round up of the ShadCab reshuffle news in today’s papers before we move on. The Times (£) has urged Ed M to bring back his brother (unlikely, as I said yesterday) alongside Andrew Adonis and Alistair Darling. The FT have talked about Ed Miliband now being more secure than he was before, yet seemingly before he was like a man walking across a ship with a Ming vase. Faint praise then. The FT also suggest that David Miliband was offered the Shadow Chancellor job back in January 2011 (post Alan Johnson). That’s something that has been whispered around Westminster before – but I’m not sure anyone had ever gone to press with it before.
Meanwhile in the Indy, the briefing has begun from the friends of Liam Byrne warning Miliband that removing him would be a return to factionalism. That’s one reason why I’d be surprised to see Byrne leave unless he were replaced by someone from the same wing of the party. A promotion for Liz Kendall perhaps?
11.02 – Morning everyone. Ed Miliband is speaking to the Royal College of Nursing this morning, and we’re expecting that the reshuffle will be finalised and confirmed (in an orderly fashion) this afternoon (or tomorrow morning at the latest). Some within the party are beginning to worry that this reshuffle is “dragging on” and that the sword of Damocles can only hang over the heads of certain individuals for so long before they take matters into their own hands. Yet Ed’s team have learned the lessons of last time, and are trying to avoid the drip drip drip of information about the reshuffle leaking out. More’s the pity. I’ll still be bringing you everything I hear though – both confirmed, and unconfirmed.
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18.38 – A few Shadow Cabinet members we can confirm already (from the Lords). Jan Royall, Steve Bassam and Phil Hunt remain Opposition Leader, Opposition Chief Whip and Opposition Deputy Leader respectively in the Lords. Both Royall and Bassam sit in the shadow cabinet – and their positions were confirmed (as was Hunt’s) when they were re-elected unopposed by Labour Peers today.That support is in no small part down to the battles they’ve led in the Lords through the first two years of the Coalition, especially in the past six months with the welfare, legal aid and health bills.
It’s also believed that Hunt will replace Glenys Thornton as Labour’s Health Spokesperson in the Lords.
16.16 – More on that Lords reshuffle (09.12). We understand Glenys Thornton will be moving from Health to the equalities brief.
12.13 – We’ll be continuing with the liveblog as long as it takes, but don’t expect any announcements today. Ed Miliband is addressing the Royal College of Nursing tomorrow. We understand there’ll be no reshuffle news under after that – so Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning it is…
11.41 – It was confirmed this morning (and fired the starting pistol on the reshuffle) that Peter Hain is stepping down. He has been a loyal and trusted ally of Ed Miliband since the earliest days of his leadership, and has done some heavy lifting that others weren’t keen on doing (Refounding Labour anyone?). Ed Miliband has paid tribute to him, and quite right, Hain has had a remarkable career.
11.27 – This is the first reshuffle in years that hasn’t featured speculation about Jon Cruddas heading onto the front bench. Let me rectify that oversight – and the Dagenham MP might now be coming around to the idea. We know he’d consider a tilt at London Mayor – but could the front bench also be in his sights? Maybe not this time, but his reservations about Ed M have subsided in recent months – so perhaps next time?
11.00 – Every reshuffle that comes around inevitably brings around the rumour that Tessa Jowell will be leaving the shadow cabinet. Let’s knock this one on the head. The Olympics are just a few months away. Jowell is the Shadow Olympics Minister and played a big role in securing the London Games. She’s not going anywhere.
09.12 – As well as a reshuffle in the commons, expect to see some rotating of roles amongst Labour’s front bench in the Lords today too. Willy Bach looks set to step down from his justice role (with an impressive 14 Tory defeats to his name) and will be replaced by Jeremy Beecham.
08.35 – So who will replace Hain in the Shadow Wales portfolio? The two most widely tipped so far are the witty Kevin Brennan and the phone hacking veteran Chris Bryant. Both good parliamentary performers – both sound potential promotions.
08.10 – One or two papers over the weekend even tried to suggest that a return for David Miliband was in the offing. Although I wish that were true, it seems highly unlikely, considering just six days he wrote an article for the Mirror on why he was spending his time “on the front line not the front bench”. Not even Cameron makes u-turns that quickly.
08.05 – The other major rumour being kicked about revolves around Liam Byrne. Could he lose his policy brief, his shadow DWP brief, or even his position in the shadow cabinet altogether? I’ve already looked at this in more detail.
08.00 – Today looks likely to be the day when reshuffle speculation reaches a crescendo, so welcome to our latest shadow cabinet reshuffle liveblog, where we’ll be bringing you all of the rumours about changes in the top team – before separating fact from fiction.
The one change we are absolutely certain will take place is Peter Hain leaving the shadow cabinet as Shadow Welsh Secretary. Hain confirmed this on BBC Wales this morning, but we can also confirm that Hain will be stepping down as Chair of Labour’s National Policy Forum.
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