(L-R) Nick Thomas-Symonds, Anneliese Dodds and Lisa Nandy have all made top spots in Sir Keir Starmer’s new shadow cabinet (Picture: Getty)

Newly-elected leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer has wasted no time in starting his shadow cabinet reshuffle, to create a ‘talented, balanced’ team to win back the public.

After just a day in the job, the new leader of the opposition has appointed former treasury minister Anneliese Dodds as shadow chancellor, his leadership rival Lisa Nandy has been given the spot of shadow foreign secretary and Nick Thomas-Symonds will be shadow home secretary.

John McDonnell, Diane Abbott and Barry Gardiner, who served under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, are out of the shadow cabinet. However, former shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry is expected to remain – albeit in a different role.



Remaining in their positions are Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth and Shadow Leader of the Lords Angela Smith, while Nick Brown has been re-appointed chief whip.


Ms Nandy said it was a ‘real honour’ to be tasked with leading the party’s foreign policy response ‘in these difficult times’.



Ms Dodds added she was ‘delighted’ to be made shadow chancellor, and urged the party to ‘pull together in the face of unprecedented economic circumstances’.



Mr Thomas-Symonds said he was ‘honoured’ by his appointment.

Newly-elected Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to create a ‘balanced’ shadow cabinet (Picture: PA)

Lisa Nandy, who was one of the favourites to win the leadership contest, has been given the role of shadow foreign secretary (Picture: Getty)

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After receiving a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic from senior Government officials today, Sir Keir, 57, said: ‘We are living through a national emergency.

‘Under my leadership, the Labour Party will always act in the country’s interest to save lives and protect livelihoods. That will be the number one priority of my shadow cabinet.

‘We will be a responsible opposition that supports the Government where we believe they are right and challenge them when we believe mistakes are being made.’

After winning a landslide victory in the Labour leadership contest, Sir Keir has pledged to recruit a diverse team from across the country to create a party who ‘want to serve towards the future aim of winning that next general election’.

Sir Keir, who said it was the ‘honour and privilege of my life’ to be elected leader, has vowed to make it his ‘mission’ to reconnect the party with the public, saying Labour needs to change so trust can be regained.

Former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell has been stood down from the new cabinet (Picture: EPA)

Former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott is out of the new shadow cabinet (Picture: Rex)

Former Shadow Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner was one of the first to be stood down (Picture: Rex)

He also apologised for anti-Semitism in the party which he said brought ‘grief’ to Jewish communities, and promised to ‘turn over a new leaf’.

Sir Keir secured 56% of the 490,731 votes cast in the three-month contest – beating his rivals Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy to replace Mr Corbyn.

His deputy will be former Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner, who won her respective race with 52.6% of the vote in the third round, and promised to ‘do everything’ to repay her supporters’ trust.

Former leader Mr Corbyn congratulated Sir Keir on his top win and said he looks forward to working with him and Ms Rayner to ‘transform the country’, adding that leading the party is a ‘great honour and responsibility’.



‘I will have in my shadow cabinet those that want to serve towards the future aim of winning that next general election,’ Sir Keir told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show. ‘It will be a talented, balanced shadow cabinet.’

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Anneliese Dodds has been appointed shadow chancellor (Picture: PA)

Nick Thomas-Symonds will be shadow home secretary (Picture: UK Parliament)

He has vowed to engage constructively with the Government amid the coronavirus crisis, saying he will not seek to score party political points – nor demand the impossible.

On Brexit, Sir Keir said that the Government ‘should extend’ the transition period ‘if it’s necessary to do so’ due to the pandemic.

Sir Keir, who entered Parliament in 2015, has said Labour will ‘make the argument for a better future’ under his leadership – but will first need to restore people’s trust in the party as a ‘force for good and a force for change’.

Writing in the Sunday Times, he said: ‘To begin to restore that trust, I will make it my mission to reconnect Labour with the public. I want to build a coalition in all parts of the country, no matter how people previously voted.

‘We must be a party of government again capable of answering to the electorate across the whole of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Never again can Labour be a party that millions of people feel they cannot trust to govern, to manage our economy or to keep our country safe.

Angela Rayner has been elected as deputy leader (Picture:EPA)

‘Make no mistake: our party needs to change so that trust can be regained. We must become a credible government-in-waiting and get back to a position where we can make a real difference to people’s lives.


‘Where that requires us to rethink, we will. And where that requires us to apologise, we will.’

Sir Keir also reiterated the apology he made to the Jewish community in his acceptance speech, saying Labour has been ‘shamed’ over the past years by anti-Semitism.

Shortly before the result was announced on Saturday morning, Boris Johnson wrote to opposition party leaders inviting them to a coronavirus briefing as he insisted ‘we have a duty to work together at this moment of national emergency’.

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The prime minister congratulated Sir Keir in a call yesterday and the pair agreed to meet next week to discuss the Covid-19 crisis, while Mayor of London Sadiq Khan also said the country faced great challenges ahead and Sir Keir and Ms Rayner were best suited to lead the party through them.

Defeated leadership candidate Ms Long-Bailey said Sir Keir would be a ‘brilliant prime minister’, and she pledged to ‘do all I can to make that a reality’.

Ms Nandy said her new leader would have her ‘full support in the challenges that lie ahead’.

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