What will be Corbyn’s in-tray tomorrow morning?

Jeremy Corbyn is now leader of the Labour party – but there’s little time for rest. Before he’s even had time to truly appreciate the huge scale of his victory, his in-tray has already piled up with things for him to do. This is what he can expect to deal with tomorrow morning.

1) Appointing a Shadow Cabinet – It is likely Corbyn will already have compiled some kind of Shadow Cabinet list and may have approached certain people about certain jobs. Now he is leader he has to appoint people pretty quick. Corbyn has said he wants a shadow cabinet that includes all wings of the party, so that he can encourage unity from the offset. That might be difficult with so many members of the Shadow Cabinet confirming they will not serve under him.

Particular attention will paid to who he makes Shadow Chancellor. If he appoints his campaign chief John McDonnell that could be interpreted as showing he is not really interested in unity. Figures such as Owen Smith and Angela Eagle would be more acceptable to many in the party. Eyes will also be on who he appoints Chief Whip. As a serial backbench rebel he will find it tough to demand complete loyalty from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP), although he does have an impressive mandate as leader. The current Chief Whip Rosie Winterton is believed to be consulting with colleagues over whether to take the role if she is offered it.

2) First meeting with the PLP – The Commons is back on Monday, with MPs voting on the second reading of the Trade Union Bill. Corbyn spoke against this in his victory speech and will have little trouble leading Labour MPs in the ‘no’ lobbies. He may find them less obliging, though, at his first meeting of the PLP as leader. He’ll want to emphasise unity and encourage MPs to work together under his leadership. He’s also might spell out how he wants to get backbencher more involved in policy making.

3) First PMQs – Wednesday 12 o’clock Corbyn will face David Cameron from the despatch box for the first time. It is an intimidating experience for any party leader, but maybe more so for Corbyn who has never spoken from the frontbench. His comradely style has won him many admirers. The test now is whether he can retain it while facing a barrage of noise from the Tory benches. His team will also want to encourage as many Labour MPs as possible to fill the benches behind him to show support.

We will also see how the Conservatives are going to seek to define Corbyn in Cameron’s answers. The party reportedly had a summit at Chequers on Thursday to decide upon how best to respond to the new Labour leader.

4) First Labour conference – Corbyn and his team also have to prepare for Labour conference at the end of the month. He must prepare his first speech as party leader and his team must decide upon its positions on the various motions be put to conference.

Corbyn sees annual conference as playing a huge role in policy formation over the coming years, which will mean a fairly radical reform in the way it works in future years. How he handles his first could be a fascinating insight into how the others play out.

But there are other concerns; it will be one of the first opportunities for unhappy MPs to air their grievances publicly. Conference week could be day after day of negative stories. He’ll want to think of something big to announce and dominate the front pages.