Who might be on the move in Labour’s mini-reshuffle?

As anticipated, Jim Murphy announced his resignation from the Shadow Cabinet this weekend as he focuses on his campaign for Scottish Labour leader. Clearly trying to be a member of the Shadow Cabinet whilst running for a major leadership role. So Murphy’s departure leaves an opening in the Shadow Cabinet at DFID, leading to what party insiders have confirmed will be a small reshuffle. So what might this mini-reshuffle – which we’re expecting today – look like?

We could see the smallest possible change – a like for like replacement for Murphy at International Development. If that’s the case, Miliband is likely to use the opportunity to promote another woman (probably from the 2010 intake) to the Shadow Cabinet to achieve gender balance for Labour’s top team, and there are no shortage of potential candidates. Amongst those being spoken of as potential future cabinet members are Stella Creasy, Lucy Powell, Lisa Nandy and Luciana Berger – as well as Liz Kendall (who currently attends Shadow Cabinet in her Social Care role) – but there are others who could certainly play a part at the top table. Perhaps the best placed person to benefit from Murphy’s resignation is Alison McGovern, who has impressed the International Development sector with her work as a junior member of Murphy’s team. She’d make a strong Shadow DFID Secretary were she given the chance at the top job.

Yet as is often the case with reshuffle’s – things may be slightly more complicated than they necessarily appear. Anas Sarwar’s departure as Deputy Leader of Scottish Labour has led to rumours that he’s lined up for a big job in Westminster – perhaps Shadow Scotland Secretary. Yet I’d be surprised to see Margaret Curran moved from that brief. She performed well in trying circumstances during the Scottish referendum, and is a doughty and experienced campaigner. That said, if she’s not moved today, she may well get a bigger job in future as a reward for her hard work. But if Sarwar doesn’t come in as Shadow Scotland Secretary, could he go to DFID? That might seem the simple solution – but it wouldn’t solve the gender balance issue for Miliband. Another front bench role – or a campaigning brief building on his experience over the past two years in Scotland – may be what’s next for the Glaswegian.

As for other Shadow Cabinet moves, we’re not expecting any today – unless perhaps there are multiple moves to accommodate Sarwar – and it’s unlikely (after a major reshuffle was ruled out only a few weeks ago) that we’ll be seeing any of the major Shadow Cabinet portfolios changing hands.