Jeremy Corbyn's head of policy and rebuttal switches to new role
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Version 0 of 1. A senior member of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership team is involved in discussions about moving to a new role, prompting claims of divisions within the Labour leader’s office. Neale Coleman, who has found himself in the heat of Labour’s internal battles over Corbyn’s leadership as head of policy and rebuttal, is understood to be looking at switching to a role that would suit him personally. Coleman, who is in his early 60s, has young children. The Labour leader is understood to be keen to ensure that Coleman feels comfortable about staying on in a new role that is likely to be less prominent. The senior aide is a highly respected veteran Labour member who worked for Ken Livingstone at City Hall on housing and then on the preparations for the 2012 London Olympics. Coleman became one of the few Livingstone advisers to stay on at City Hall after Boris Johnson’s election as London mayor in 2008. Johnson was advised that Coleman was an indispensable link between City Hall and the Olympic Delivery Authority. Coleman and Johnson hit it off because they both studied classics at Oxford. Coleman was an early recruit to Corbyn’s office after his election last year and was a central figure in the challenging task of building up an operation from scratch. It was reported that he had decided to resign after a series of disagreements with former Guardian columnist Seumas Milne, who was appointed Labour’s director of communications and strategy. There are understood to have been differences within Corbyn’s office but the claims of the depths of the divisions are being disputed. Corbyn has let it be known that he is keen to carve out a new role for Coleman. A Labour spokesperson said: “We do not comment on staffing matters.” |