Angela Rayner tipped to be given new job by Sir Keir Starmer as he plans reshuffle
Angela Rayner could be set to move job roles in a cabinet reshuffle by Sir Keir Starmer
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Angela Rayner could be set to move job roles in a shadow cabinet reshuffle by Sir Keir Starmer as early as next month.
The Labour leader has reportedly been urged by aides to shake up his front bench ahead of the summer.
It has been claimed that Rayner, who is Starmer's deputy, is likely to be offered the levelling-up brief - which would mean a demotion for Lisa Nandy.
Should Rayner be appointed, her political portfolio will reflect that borne by John Prescott, Labour’s last deputy prime minister.
Nandy would retain her place in the shadow cabinet but is likely to suffer her second demotion in as many years
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Nandy would retain her place in the shadow cabinet but is likely to suffer her second demotion in as many years.
Until November 2021 she was shadow foreign secretary, and it is not clear what role she would next be handed.
Aides are advising Starmer to stamp his authority in the days after three July by-elections and the National Policy Forum.
The by-elections, including in Boris Johnson’s former constituency of Uxbridge & South Ruislip, are on Thursday, July 20, and the National Policy Forum is that weekend.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, and Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, are all expected to keep their jobs.
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change and net zero secretary, is also likely to be retained.
By giving Rayner a higher policy role could help ease the tensions that have occasionally affected her relationship with Starmer.
She currently shadows the Cabinet Office, which is a role she negotiated during a publicly chaotic reshuffle in May 2021.
“The key to the reshuffle is Keir having a discussion with Angela about how we can best use her talents in government. Everything else follows from there,” a senior source told The Times.
The Labour leader has reportedly been urged by aides to shake up the front bench ahead of the summer.
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A shadow cabinet minister said: “The Cabinet Office job is all about co-ordinating across Whitehall, chairing committees, driving policy implementation. Does Angela really want to do that?
"I’m not sure she would even pretend that’s where her strengths or interests lie. The prime minister also needs someone they trust implicitly in that role. Frankly, that isn’t Angela either. She is best-suited to a public services ministry like education or health.”
Sources close to preparations for the reshuffle rejected suggestions that Rayner was likely to return as shadow education secretary.
“It isn’t a case of Ange being allowed to pick and choose any job she likes,” a senior party official said. “She clearly isn’t in a strong enough position to do that. Our big domestic briefs are already taken.”
Rayner could be replaced at the Cabinet Office by potentially Anneliese Dodds, who is currently party chairwoman; Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is still shadow international trade secretary or Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary.