The new shadow cabinet: A smart use of resources

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ed Miliband faced some very tough decisions today, and he made them quickly and decisively. Of course it’s too soon to know how they will pan out, but what we can see here are the emerging outlines of the Labour Party that Ed Miliband wants to lead. This may not be the “Ruthless Ed” that we saw remove Nick Brown as chief whip – but there appears to be a level of strategic thinking involved in the way that Ed has put together his new team.

The obvious starting point for analysing Ed’s new shadow cabinet is to take a look at Alan Johnson as shadow chancellor. Both last night and this morning all of the talk was about who Ed would choose between Balls and Cooper. In the end this was a choice without a rational answer, so it seems that Johnson’s appointment is an opportunity to look at the treasury role in a different way. But it’s a gamble, and the stakes are high.

Both Cooper and Balls would have brought a weighty level of economic knowledge and experience to the table, but what Johnson brings to the role is his ability as a communicator, and his appeal to ‘ordinary’ voters, making him a marked contrast to George Osborne. How Johnson now handles the Comprehensive Spending Review on the 20th October is crucial, and we’ll need to see him grasp some nettles on the deficit over the next two weeks. And of course, as a significant supporter of David Miliband, Johnson’s appointment (along with a few others) has shown a willingness to include talents from across the party.

So both Balls and Cooper missed out on the job that most had assumed they both coveted, but they’ve both come out of the leadership and shadow cabinet elections with their reputations enhanced. Crucially too, they’re in major roles that befit their popularity and talents. It was smart politics to leak their roles to the press at the same time as Johnson was announced as shadow chancellor. This both reinforced the importance of their roles in the team, and put an end to speculation that they have been passed over. Surely Theresa May won’t be relishing the task of going head to head with Ed Balls in the commons (I imagine Michael Gove is delighted to be free of him), meanwhile Cooper is now one of the real big-guns in the party. Whilst some have already expressed disappointment that she won’t be shadowing the treasury, that ignores what this shadow cabinet is – the blueprint for the next Labour cabinet. If we win the next election, Cooper will be first in line to be foreign secretary – that’s one of the biggest roles on the world stage, and it’s certainly not something to be sniffed at.

Other big positions in the shadow cabinet have gone to MPs from across the party who are viewed as capable achievers. John Healey at health may seem like a big leap to some, but as yesterday’s results showed, he’s incredibly popular within the PLP. Sadiq Khan is smart, popular and talented – he’ll not only shadow justice, but will also take on constitutional affairs – he could really shine in a high-profile double brief. The use of David Miliband supporters Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy in crucial roles (DWP and Defence) respectively is something I was especially pleased to see. Expect Murphy to be relentless in exposing flaws on defence planning, he may well come to rival Ed Balls as our best offensive weapon against the coalition.

All in all then, a smart use of resources from Ed Miliband – but that gamble on Alan Johnson is a big one. We’ll find out in 12 days whether or not it has paid off.