Reshuffle: Four key questions as Keir Starmer shakes up top team

Following the resignation of Angela Rayner from her government roles as Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government the long-rumoured government reshuffle is now underway. It will also be much wider than expected as it will now have to reach Cabinet level rather than the expected shake-up at the junior ministerial level.

The resignation of Rayner leaves several holes at the heart of government that will need to be filled quickly. While she was one woman, she held several roles that do not necessarily all sit together.

This raises four key questions.

How wide will a reshuffle of Cabinet Ministers go?

The Communities and Local Government brief is at the centre of much of the government’s agenda. The ambitious target to build 1.5 million homes is at the heart of much of the story the government wants to tell about delivery. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is seen as vital to delivering growth.

So will this central delivery ministry be given to a promoted minister from within the Department such as Matthew Pennycook? Or will it be given to someone from elsewhere within the Cabinet, prompting a much wider reshuffle at Cabinet level?

Rachel Reeves is said to be safe in her position as Chancellor – but everything else is up for debate.

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Will there be a Deputy Prime Minister?

Deputy Prime Minister is not a job that has to exist – or one that has always existed in recent years. It is largely in the gift of the Prime Minister. As such if one is appointed, the role does not have to go to the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party – a position elected by the Labour membership who may well opt for someone less in harmony with Keir Starmer than he might wish for as a Deputy.

However, Rayner’s role as Deputy Prime Minister, while not without tensions with the Number 10 operation, was largely seen as a useful counterbalance to Starmer both with Labour members (including those on the backbenches) and in terms of gender, background and politics.

The question is whether Starmer feels the need to balance his team with a party and union ‘whisperer’ as Rayner was or whether he will want someone more in his own image?

Or if he doesn’t want to make that choice at all and decides to leave the role empty what will that mean for set pieces like PMQs? With Starmer spending so much time on the world stage Rayner has stood in for the Leader many times over the last year. Will this now become a revolving opportunity for Cabinet ministers to display their talents (and possibly leadership ambitions)?

READ MORE: Angela Rayner: What would happen if Labour’s deputy leader resigned?

What does this mean for the various Labour factions?

A week is a long time on LabourList, but when Daniel Green covered the widely expected shake up of the junior ranks on Monday, he noted that those who were the most widely tipped for promotion were MPs generally described as ‘YIMBYs’ and those who were members of the Labour Growth Group. With the job of leading the housing and planning revolution the government is championing now up for grabs this seems even more likely.

A bigger question is what the balance of the Cabinet and government roles will be in terms of the left/soft left/centrist split. Starmer is frequently described as coming from the soft left, but it has frequently found itself ever further on the outs with a leader who has increasingly turned to those dubbed centrists and Blairites.

Rayner gave Starmer significant cover to his left – and was more than willing to go to bat for him with the factions and the unions. Will there now be a similar voice in government who can do the same with the credibility Rayner brought to the role?

What will this mean for the gender split of the Labour Leadership?

One area where Starmer – and those around him with a tendency to brief against colleagues – have come into criticism is on the treatment of women in the cabinet. The wide expectation is that the Party will want to replace Rayner with another woman as Deputy Leader – though this will be dependent on who throws their hats into the ring.

Rachel Reeves is the first-ever female Chancellor of the Exchequer, but with Lucy Powell already gone as Leader of the House of Commons, will this be enough for Starmer to avoid further accusations of running a boys club?

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