What are we scared of?

Like everyone else (or maybe just us geeks), I was constantly checking Twitter, receiving texts, and checking news stories on Friday as Ed’s second cabinet reshuffle was unfolding. As two big hitters had already announced their departure from the front bench (John Healey and John Denham), I was quite interested as to who would fill their vacancies, and with Greater Manchester’s own Andy Burnham and the fabulous Chukka Umunna stepping up, I was VERY excited.

As for the rest of the reshuffle, again, I was very impressed to see that Labour was not afraid to show it had strength in depth. Stephen Twigg being moved up to Education was a tad unexpected, at least for me, but was a very intriguing move. Just today, another new Greater Manchester MP, Jonny Reynolds, was promoted to the dizzy heights of PPS to Ed Miliband.

I think what I was most impressed with was the line-up for the Equalities Office; Yvette Cooper, the amazing Kate Green, Baroness Royall and Baroness Thornton. This line up of great feminists is sure to frighten the hell of the coalition, and more importantly come up with some well thought out plans to bring down the patriarchal societal tendencies and general societal and workplace inequalities.

Now, Labour backbenchers have had a great year in the media, most notably, the legend that is Tom Watson MP. His courageous battle with the Murdochs and the right-wing press earned him the position of Deputy Chair and Campaign Co-ordinator. I thought he should have been promoted higher, but this way he gets to keep his place on the DCMS Committee.

There was one blaringly obvious missing puzzle piece; where was Lisa Nandy MP?

Lisa is one of the most talented MPs I know and should have been promoted instantly. I have always been an admirer of Lisa, she comes from a voluntary sector background, working for the Charity ‘Centrepoint’, she has very similar politics to myself but most of all, she is very outspoken.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just talking up the case for Lisa Nandy, I’m talking up the case for all outspoken politicians.

What are we scared of? That they might say something that isn’t exactly along party lines? Let’s be honest, the most popular politicians are those who are honest, and will say something is wrong when it is. The likes of Lisa Nandy and Tom Watson need to be pushed, they are both very talented and intelligent people who want the same as every other Labour MP, a Labour Government by 2015. It’s not as if they’re going to speak against the party to the benefit of our opposition, is it?

There’s a little food for thought…