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Jonathan Ashworth made shadow health secretary but urged to quit NEC Corbyn retains closest allies in senior shadow cabinet roles in reshuffle
(about 3 hours later)
Jeremy Corbyn has promoted Jonathan Ashworth to become his shadow health secretary but would like the Labour MP give up his place on the party’s national executive committee in return, the Guardian understands. Jeremy Corbyn has used his post-victory reshuffle to assert his authority by wresting back control of Labour’s national executive committee and ensuring his closest allies retained the most senior shadow cabinet roles.
The Leicester politician, widely seen as an effective opponent to the Conservatives, will take on the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, amid the long-running battle between his department and junior doctors over a new contract. The Labour leader also reached out to his deputy, Tom Watson, with whom he has had a tense relationship throughout the summer, appointing him shadow culture, media and sports secretary in addition to his existing position.
The health position was vacated after Corbyn moved Diane Abbott into the shadow home secretary role and sacked his chief whip, Rosie Winterton, in a post-conference reshuffle that some MPs have described as vengeful. But as the final team was announced, Corbyn faced an immediate backlash from his MPs for disregarding any form of shadow cabinet elections, despite a vote overwhelmingly in favour of them last month as a means of offering people a dignified way back.
Maintaining Emily Thornberry as shadow foreign secretary, Corbyn said: “These appointments mean, for the first time ever, two out of the three traditional great offices of state will be shadowed by women.” John Cryer, chair of the parliamentary Labour party, wrote to colleagues to say he had entered discussions in good faith and wanted to strike an agreement under which some positions would be elected.
Ashworth has remained loyal in public media appearances but is not seen as a supporter of the leadership team, which is why Corbyn would like him to quit the NEC, which is finely balanced. The makeup of Labour’s controlling committee is seen as key as it controls any changes that could affect how the party is made up. “However, it became clear on Wednesday that a reshuffle was under way, which had not been discussed or mentioned,” he wrote in an email.
Corbyn, who has been re-elected with an even bigger mandate from members, needs to fill more than 60 frontbench positions after mass resignations and a no-confidence vote in the summer. “It now seems to me that the party’s leadership did not engage in the talks in any constructive way.”
In a sign that he wants to reassert his authority, Corbyn replaced Winterton with Nick Brown, who held the role under Gordon Brown, and also appointed ally Shami Chakrabarti, who was given a peerage after completing an inquiry on antisemitism for the party, as shadow attorney general. Responding, a spokesperson for the Labour leader said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s team have held extensive talks with the chief whip and PLP chair about shadow cabinet elections, and are ready to continue those discussions with the new chief whip… Shadow cabinet elections will be considered by Labour’s national executive committee as part of a wider party democratisation at a special meeting next month”.
The decision triggered a “disappointed” response from a leading group representing the Jewish community, who felt the inquiry fell short of rooting out antisemitism within Labour. Of the 63 MPs who stepped down as part of a mass resignation in June, only five have returned so far, although Corbyn has dozens more junior frontbench positions to fill.
Marie van der Zyl, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies, accused Lady Chakrabarti of having “sold out the Jewish community”. “We hoped her report would be a potent weapon in the fight against antisemitism. It now looks increasingly like the whitewash was a job application,” she said. The shadow cabinet has kept all MPs who served during the acrimonious leadership battle, if they wanted to stay, although there are handful of more critical voices.
Corbyn hailed the appointments of Abbott, Chakrabarti and Dawn Butler, as the shadow minister for black and minority ethnic communities, for boosting the representation of non-white politicians at the top of Labour. Alongside Kate Osamor and Clive Lewis already in his team, he said it meant “five MPs in our shadow cabinet from the BAME community – the highest number ever in any cabinet or shadow cabinet”. The most high profile appointment was the former director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer, who is now shadow Brexit secretary. However, other names tipped to join up including Dan Jarvis, Lucy Powell and Vernon Coaker were not in the final line-up.
However, moving Lewis from shadow defence secretary to business led to speculation that the former soldier was being punished after he told Labour conference that he would not attempt to overturn the party’s position in support of renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Corbyn promoted Jonathan Ashworth to the role of shadow health secretary but stripped the MP, who is not seen as an ally, of his role on Labour’s NEC.
He was replaced by Nia Griffith, a unilateralist who has campaigned against Trident. In October, the Llanelli MP called for a “genuine rethink” on the country’s nuclear programme. Ashworth was replaced with Kate Osamor, the shadow international development secretary, who has been a leading supporter of the leadership – meaning Corbyn has stopped Labour’s finely balanced NEC from tipping against him.
The change will prompt concern from some unions, including Unite and GMB, which have pushed Corbyn to maintain Labour’s current policy of supporting Trident’s renewal. However, sources close to Corbyn, who has been a lifelong campaigner against nuclear weapons, insisted that was not the motivation. The move could be critical in weeks and months to come. Some speculated that Ashworth was given the choice of a promotion or the NEC position, but sources told the Guardian that his alternative was to be sacked completely.
The reshuffle comes after Labour MPs failed to reach a deal with the leadership team over shadow cabinet elections as a means of offering some politicians a dignified way back, meaning that some MPs will be less likely to agree to take up positions. Corbyn said his new team had for the first time “two of the three great offices of state shadowed by women” and record numbers of non-white politicians. On Thursday, he appointed Diane Abbott as shadow home secretary, while Emily Thornberry remains as shadow foreign secretary. Shami Chakrabarti, the former head of Liberty, was also appointed as shadow attorney general.
Corbyn’s team say that negotiations are ongoing but believe that they can fill the roles without any formal peace settlement. “I have acted to bring together a strong and diverse opposition leadership team. Our aim is to deliver what millions of people are demanding: a Labour party focused on holding this divisive government to account and winning the next general election,” he said.
One popular appointment was Keir Starmer, the former director of public prosecutions, to the position of shadow Brexit secretary. Jonathan Reynolds, who represents a Greater Manchester constituency and who had previously resigned from Corbyn’s team, has also been appointed as shadow city minister. Watson will relish his new role having led the campaign against phone hacking and spending a number of years on parliament’s culture, media and sports committee.
Corbyn used that decision to try to counter the criticism that the top four most senior positions in the party are now held by London MPs, with three of them in the boroughs of Islington and Hackney. “I’m looking forward to working with Jeremy to develop Labour’s policy on introducing the arts pupil premium to every child of primary school age,” he said.
Abbott’s appointment has been controversial because she has been vocal in expressing pro-immigration views that some in the party think could hamper Labour’s efforts to reach out to their northern heartlands. “There should be no class ceiling placed on anyone who wants to contribute to or enjoy our artistic, musical and sporting heritage. I also want our globally successful games industry to be given the recognition it deserves.”
“Jon joins 10 Labour MPs from the north of England who have already been appointed to our frontbench. I welcome Jon’s agreement to serve as shadow City minister,” said Corbyn. But the decisions to sack Rosie Winterton as chief whip, and not sign up to shadow cabinet elections, as requested by MPs could leave anger within the party.
Jon Trickett will be shadow lord president of the council and Labour’s national campaigns coordinator – having asked to be relinquished of an additional role as shadow business secretary. He was one of a number of MPs carrying out several roles after the resignations. In response to Cryer’s email, a spokesman for Corbyn said the discussion would continue with the new chief whip, Nick Brown.
The Guardian understands that MPs who stepped forward following the mass walkout after the June EU referendum will not be forced out of Corbyn’s team, limiting the number of new positions that are available to be filled. The decision to appoint Chakrabarti, who was given a peerage after completing an inquiry on antisemitism for the party, triggered a “disappointed” from a leading group representing the Jewish community.
Other MPs who have been tipped for jobs are Dan Jarvis and John Healey. Another MP, who had also been talked about as a possible returnee, said they were not minded to serve because they felt that Corbyn had failed to reach out. They said they believed so-called moderates needed to learn from the way the leader had inspired members across the country – but felt Corbyn also needed to try to build a broad coalition. Marie van der Zyl, the vice-president of the Board of Deputies, accused Chakrabarti of having “sold out the Jewish community”. She added: “We hoped her report would be a potent weapon in the fight against antisemitism. It now looks increasingly like the whitewash was a job application.”
The new shadow cabinet has a decidedly London-centric feel among its top position, with all four of the MPs shadowing the so-called great offices of state representing constituencies in the capital – Corbyn, Abbott, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, and Thornberry.
In all, at least nine London MPs were set to be represented in the new shadow cabinet.
Corbyn has stressed there are 10 MPs from the north of England on his frontbench, though not all of them have shadow cabinet places.
The reshuffle sees a mixture of Corbyn supporters gaining new prominence, such as Osamor’s place on the NEC, and the return of ministers who quit in the wake of the EU referendum.
Among the latter group is Barbara Keeley, who stepped down at the end of June as shadow minister for older people, but now comes back as shadow minister for mental health, a post Corbyn axed a year ago but had promised to reinstate.
John Healey, who resigned in June as shadow housing minister, has come back to the same role.
Healey said that after a year of Labour focusing on itself, it was time to to “turn our full attention to what the public have to say”.
He said: “I’ve served on Labour’s frontbench for much of the last 20 years, under four leaders. They all had flaws. And when I spoke to Jeremy today he agreed that that he, and we all, must do better. However, all four were elected leaders of our party. Jeremy Corbyn’s re-election earns him the right to lead Labour again, and the right to expect backing from Labour MPs.”