Angela Rayner pushed out of job by Sir Keir Starmer in 'ruthless' reshuffle
Angela Rayner has been moved to a new brief in the Shadow Cabinet, as Sir Keir Starmer is set to swap out his top team today
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Angela Rayner has been moved to a new brief in the Shadow Cabinet, as Sir Keir Starmer swapped out his top team today.
She has been appointed the new Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Rayner cannot be moved from her role as Deputy Leader, given it is an elected position, but her title has been changed to Shadow Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - signalling Starmer's determination to win a general election.
She previously held several roles, including the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work.
Rayner has been appointed the new Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
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Pat McFadden, a former blairite, will replace Rayner as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and will also take on the role of National Campaign Co-ordinator.
Lisa Nandy was demoted from the role she previously held in the Department for Levelling Up, being appointed Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development.
Steve Reed was also given a significant demotion, being moved from the Justice Department to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Labour MP Shabana Mahmood will take his place as Secretary of State for Justice.
She previously acted as the Labour Party National Campaign Coordinator, a role she has done since 2021.
Liz Kendall, who stood against Jeremy Corbyn in the 2015 leadership contest, has been appointed Shadow Secretary of State for work and Pensions.
She will be replacing Jonathan Ashworth, who has been appointed Shadow Paymaster General in the Cabinet Office.
Relations between Rayner and the Labour leader reportedly been strained in recent months.
One Labour MP told Politico that "some of the stuff she’s tried to do at shadow cabinet has landed really badly".
But an ally warned: "You’d be getting rid of someone on the soft left and a standard-bearer for that wing of the party."
Ahead of the reshuffle, a party official told Politico: "It’s all about Angela. They have to find a role LOTO are happy with her doing, and have to find a role Angela will accept.
"The crossover in that Venn diagram is pretty minimal."
The shake up began this morning after Shadow Tranpsort Secretary and Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon stepped down from his post.
In his resignation letter, he said he is a "firm supporter" of Starmer but has chosen to step down as a result of a "number of personal challenges'.
It has been nearly two years since the Labour leader last swapped out his top team, with a reshuffle being floated on and off for the last nine months.
A source inside the party told Sky News today's reshuffle will be "ruthless".
Starmer has been under increasing pressure in recent months to make changes to his top team in order to boost Labour's standing in the polls.
Lisa Nandy has been moved out of the Department for Levelling Up
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The Labour party is 14 points clear of the Tories, according to an Opinium poll from this Saturday, but the Leader of the Opposition is said to be looking for an even bigger lead, with today's reshuffle understood to be central to his plan.
Rishi Sunak conducted a mini reshuffle of his Cabinet last week, moving Grant Shapps to the Minsitry of Defence to replace Ben Wallace.
Former PPS Claire Coutinho, known to be loyal to the PM, was promoted to Shapps' old role int he Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.