MPs to vote on return of Shadow Cabinet elections

Labour MPs will today vote to decide on whether they want to return to a system of regular elections for the Shadow Cabinet.

Shadow Cabinet elections were scrapped by Ed Miliband, with the agreement of his backbenchers, in 2011, but the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) last night debated whether to push for their return. A motion was brought to Monday’s meeting by Clive Betts, and the PLP will vote on the proposal between 10am and 5pm today.

If they vote in favour of the elections – as is widely expected – then the reform would have to be ratified by the party’s national executive committee (NEC) before the rule is imposed. The NEC had been due to meet to discuss party reforms today, but the meeting’s postponement means Shadow Cabinet elections could be discussed when a new date is confirmed.

Supporters of the plan say that it would be an effective strategy to build unity within the parliamentary party after a summer of discord, which saw 172 Labour MPs vote that they had no confidence in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Betts spoke unopposed at last night’s meeting, and his proposal is described as a “peace plan” that would allow MPs a greater say in how the party is run, and force a better working relationship between the leader and PLP.

However, Corbyn’s allies are sceptical of the plan, believing it would be used to strip the top team of his supporters and be an attempt to constrain his leadership. In response to the proposal yesterday, the leader’s team floated the idea of opening up Shadow Cabinet elections to the membership or conference, rather than the PLP.

There is also some scepticism among the anti-Corbyn wing of the party. Ian McKenzie, an ex-staffer to former chief whip Ann Taylor and former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, wrote for LabourList yesterday about how the move would increase the level of “dysfunction” in the party.