New soft-left Labour: Starmer’s shadow cabinet goes back to the future

Sir Keir Starmer has moved quickly to sideline the Corbynite wing of the Labour party in his appointment of the party’s shadow cabinet. Having won the Labour leadership election at the weekend, and with more moderate figures back in control of the ruling National Executive Committee, he is not hanging about.

Occupying the great offices are Anneliese Dodds as shadow Chancellor, Nick Thomas-Symonds as shadow Home Secretary, and Lisa Nandy as shadow Foreign Secretary. New deputy leader Angela Rayner has been appointed chair of the Labour party. Spanning the range from rightish, in Labour terms, to the soft left, none could be seen as Corbynite. It is all much more recognisably Labour, virtually Kinnockite, that is pre-Blairite.

The purge of the far left is almost total. The only prominent Corbynite left in the Cabinet is Rebecca Long-Bailey who will serve as Secretary for Education. Starmer had after all promised a position for her during his leadership campaign.

Long-Bailey will find herself ideologically isolated though. The only other Corbynite members of the shadow cabinet are Andy McDonald, with the shadow Employment Rights and Protections brief, and Marsha de Cordova, with shadow Women and Equalities. The latter backed Starmer for the leadership.

The other prominent Corbynites have been purged in the last 24 hours, to the delight of Labour moderates. The most prominent dismissal is Richard Burgon who was Secretary of State for Justice and one of the most pugnacious Corbynite MPs. Other key figures to go include Ian Lavery, the former Party Chair, and Barry Gardiner, the former Shadow Secretary for International Trade.

Notably, the pro-Corbyn line of these MPs also meant that they all blamed Labour’s shattering defeat in December on Brexit – and had been vocally opposed to a second referendum. Given that Starmer drove Labour’s adoption of a pro-second referendum policy their dismissal is unsurprising.

If the vigorous purge of Corbynites gives the shadow cabinet a certain freshness so does the limited political track record of most of his appointees. Starmer himself only became an MP in 2015, as did Thomas-Symonds. Dodds only became an MP in 2017. In this company, Nandy, who was elected in 2010 seems a positive veteran – despite never having held a government position.

A few more experienced figures are in the cabinet. Most prominent is former leader Ed Miliband, who will be serving as shadow Secretary for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy. Nick Brown, an old Brownite bruiser, has been reappointed as Chief Whip having held this position not just under Corbyn but also Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Lord Falconer has been appointed Attorney-General, which is a sign Starmer is serious about taking on anti-Semitism.

David Lammy, now Shadow Justice Secretary, also has some experience from the Blair and Brown days but only as a junior minister. Emily Thornberry has been kept on, albeit shuffled down to Shadow International Trade, and Rachel Reeves is also back as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Both have only ever served in shadow positions and Reeves was elected in 2010.

The vast majority of the Cabinet only entered parliament after 2010 and around half after 2015. This is not necessarily to say they are unqualified.

Of Labour’s most prominent frontbenchers Dodds served on the EU Parliament’s Monetary and Economic Affairs Committee and built up a good reputation for herself among MPs and civil servants while serving as Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury for three years.

Thomas-Symonds is known to be an intellectual powerhouse, becoming a tutor at Oxford University age 21. He also has virtual frontbench experience effectively serving as Labour’s Attorney-General in the Commons during the Brexit process since Shami Chakrabarti sat in the Lords.

Rayner, for her part, has quickly established a reputation as one of the most effective performers in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet at a time when such talent was rare. Her skill as a communicator and impressive background should make her a media asset for Labour.

Still, this selection means most members of the shadow cabinet have just a few years’ experience serving in opposition, and few have actually served in government. They are untested.

This may not be a bad thing for Labour. The Corbynite period ultimately proved wildly unpopular and is defined by its resounding failure. Starmer was right to quickly bury it.

The New Labour project remains controversial within the party. It seems Starmer has no intention of trying to revive it, openly – even if he has made a few overtures to the right in appointing figures like Reeves. Instead, most of the Cabinet is firmly on the soft-left, much like Starmer himself.

This looks like a promising start for Starmer as Labour leader. Already he seems to be confident enough to try to shape the party in his own image.