Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has been voted as LabourList readers’ frontbencher of the year, narrowly beating Hilary Benn in our end of year survey.
McDonnell joined the frontbench for the first time following Jeremy Corbyn’s victory in September, immediately being promoted to one of the top jobs. He is seen as one of Corbyn’s closest allies within the Shadow Cabinet, and his closeness to the leader will have helped his popularity in this survey, as readers show their support for the leadership.
He has strengthened Labour’s rhetorical opposition to austerity, and instructed Labour MPs to vote against Osborne’s Fiscal Charter, despite originally saying Labour would support the plan. During a now-famous exchange during the Autumn Statement, he flung a copy of Mao Tse-Tung’s Little Red Book across the despatch box.
John McDonnell topped the survey of 2,822 readers. with 27.5% of the vote. Close behind was Shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn, with 25.2% of the vote.
Benn recently won praise for his performance in the Chamber during the debate over airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. His speech broke two conventions: he made a counter argument to his own leader from the frontbench, and received a spontaneous round of applause from MPs around the House.
The third most popular frontbencher was Angela Eagle, with 12.7% of the vote. Missing out on the Shadow Chancellor job during the reshuffle, Eagle was given the Shadow Business and Shadow Secretary of State roles – and impressed when she stepped in for Corbyn at PMQs a fortnight ago.
Former leadership candidate Andy Burnham received 5% of the vote. The Shadow Home Secretary has been popular with grassroots members since serving as Health Secretary under Gordon Brown – an area he returned to under Ed Miliband.
Shadow International Development Secretary Diane Abbott pipped Shadow Energy’s Lisa Nandy to fifth place, by 3.6% to 3.4%. Both are seen as on the left of the party, although like McDonnell, Abbott is very close politically to Corbyn.
The results appear to point towards the splits in attitude within the Labour Party, with two of the top six frontbenchers big Corbyn supporters (McDonnell and Abbott) and two others talked about as potential replacements for Corbyn because of their recent performances (Benn and Eagle). Burnham and Nandy, while not ideological bedmates of Corbyn, have been recognised as supportive of the leader over the past three months.
2,822 people voted in our latest survey. Thanks to everyone who took part.
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