Starmer and the Starmerettes

Emma Burnell has an interesting CAPX piece on Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet. Interesting as a piece of antique political writing where it is still assumed that political leaders have a pool of talented MPs in which to go fishing for their top team.


What does Keir Starmer’s new shadow cabinet stand for?

Labour has a new top team to go into the next election. It is a strengthened front bench that looks ready for government. But the reshuffle has created some pushback from across the party.

Much of the reaction has been about the demotion of Lisa Nandy. That’s fair. She is one of Labour’s best performers and the idea that she shouldn’t be at the heart of the next Labour government exposes a nervousness of Starmer’s team about anyone who might be seen as the next leader.


The whole piece is well worth reading as another insight into that weird, BBC type world where political government and the greasy pole must never be presented as futile and damaging political theatre.


The localism brief being this important and high profile speaks of an understanding that what happened to Labour in 2019 wasn’t just about Brexit. It wasn’t just about supranational issues but actually about a feeling of a sense of place that Johnson briefly tapped into while never actually doing much to address. People are rooted in their places and they need to feel that the places they love are valued. If Labour can put an understanding of this at the heart of their offer – with a spokesperson in Rayner who is seen as absolutely authentic – it will go a long way in shoring up their unexpected but very real lead in areas that Labour is not traditionally strong in such as rural communities.