Labour leader faces backlash from his MPs for disregarding vote in favour of shadow cabinet elections

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Jeremy Corbyn has used his post-victory reshuffle to assert his authority by wresting back control of Labour’s national executive committee and ensuring his closest allies retained the most senior shadow cabinet roles.

The Labour leader reached out to his deputy, Tom Watson, with whom he has had a tense relationship throughout the summer, appointing him shadow culture, media and sports secretary in addition to his existing position.

He also promoted Jonathan Ashworth to the role of shadow health secretary but stripped the MP, who is not seen as an ally, of his role on Labour’s NEC, appointing the supportive Kate Osamor instead.

But as the final team was announced, Corbyn – who began the shake-up by sacking his chief whip, Rosie Winterton, and appointing Nick Brown – faced an immediate backlash.

John Cryer, chair of the parliamentary Labour party, wrote to colleagues to say he and Winterton had entered discussions in good faith about the possibility of MPs electing at least part of the shadow cabinet.

The proposals were presented as a peace package between Corbyn and MPs after they backed a motion of no confidence in his leadership during the summer.

“However, it became clear on Wednesday that a reshuffle was under way, which had not been discussed or mentioned,” Cryer wrote in an email.

“It now seems to me that the party’s leadership did not engage in the talks in any constructive way.”

Responding, a spokesperson for the Labour leader said the talks could continue with Cryer and Brown. “Shadow cabinet elections will be considered by Labour’s national executive committee as part of a wider party democratisation at a special meeting next month,” they said.

Of the 63 MPs who stepped down as part of a mass resignation in June, only five have returned so far, although Corbyn has dozens more junior frontbench positions to fill.



The shadow cabinet has kept all MPs who served during the acrimonious leadership battle, if they wanted to stay, although there are a handful of more critical voices.

The reshuffle saw Diane Abbott become shadow home secretary, while the former director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, became the highest profile new member as shadow Brexit secretary.

Clive Lewis told the Guardian that he was disappointed to be moved from the shadow defence brief, given his history serving in the army, but said he was looking forward to taking on the shadow business role. The shift in position came after Lewis told the Labour party conference that he would not seek to change the party’s position in support of the renewal of Trident, despite Corbyn’s opposition to the policy.

The MP said he had not “suddenly become an enthusiast for unilateral rearmament” but was simply being realistic given that parliament had already given the green light to the policy.

Other names tipped to join up including Dan Jarvis, Lucy Powell and Vernon Coaker were not in the final line-up.

Replacing Ashworth with Osamor on Labour’s governing board means Corbyn has stopped the finely balanced NEC from tipping against him.

The move could be critical in weeks and months to come. Some speculated that Ashworth was given the choice of a promotion or the NEC position, but sources told the Guardian that his alternative was to be sacked completely.

Corbyn said his new team had for the first time “two of the three great offices of state shadowed by women” and record numbers of non-white politicians. On Thursday, he appointed Diane Abbott as shadow home secretary, while Emily Thornberry remains as shadow foreign secretary. Shami Chakrabarti, the former head of Liberty, was also appointed as shadow attorney general.

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“I have acted to bring together a strong and diverse opposition leadership team. Our aim is to deliver what millions of people are demanding: a Labour party focused on holding this divisive government to account and winning the next general election,” he said.



Watson will relish his new role having led the campaign against phone hacking and spending a number of years on parliament’s culture, media and sports committee.

“I’m looking forward to working with Jeremy to develop Labour’s policy on introducing the arts pupil premium to every child of primary school age,” he said.

The decision to appoint Chakrabarti, who was given a peerage after completing an inquiry on antisemitism for the party, triggered a “disappointed” response from a leading group representing the Jewish community.

Marie van der Zyl, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies, accused Chakrabarti of having “sold out the Jewish community”. She added: “We hoped her report would be a potent weapon in the fight against antisemitism. It now looks increasingly like the whitewash was a job application.”

The new shadow cabinet has a decidedly London-centric feel among its top position, with all four of the MPs shadowing the so-called great offices of state representing constituencies in the capital – Corbyn, Abbott, the shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Thornberry.



In all, at least nine London MPs were set to be represented in the new shadow cabinet.

Corbyn has stressed there are 10 MPs from the north of England on his frontbench, though not all of them have shadow cabinet places.

Other appointments include Barbara Keeley, who stepped down at the end of June as shadow minister for older people, but now comes back as shadow minister for mental health, a post Corbyn axed a year ago but had promised to reinstate.

John Healey, who resigned in June as shadow housing minister, has come back to the same role.

Healey said that after a year of Labour focusing on itself, it was time to “turn our full attention to what the public have to say”.

He said: “I’ve served on Labour’s frontbench for much of the last 20 years, under four leaders. They all had flaws. And when I spoke to Jeremy today he agreed that he, and we all, must do better. However, all four were elected leaders of our party. Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election earns him the right to lead Labour again, and the right to expect backing from Labour MPs.”