At the weekend the final piece of Britain’s political landscape fall into place as the Labour Party chose its shadow ministerial team. The team are chosen in three stages. First, MPs are asked to nominate themselves for a Shadow Cabinet position then there is a ballot of Labour MPs through which the 19 most popular are guaranteed places. Finally, the Leader chooses which positions the winning MPs get. In addition, the more junior, non-cabinet, positions are awarded directly by the Leader.
Ed Miliband showed a great deal of political guile in the way he overcame the major issue hanging over his shadow cabinet selection – whether Ed Balls or Yvette Cooper should be Shadow Chancellor – by appointing neutral Party favourite Alan Johnson to the post. Balls and Cooper were placated by being made Shadow Home and Foreign Secretaries respectively.
The major winner from the Shadow Cabinet selection was Sadiq Khan who had been a relatively minor figure in the Party until he acted as Ed Miliband’s campaign manager and was rewarded with the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Justice as a result. However, Miliband has also been keen to promote his fabled ‘new’ generation of talent by giving people like Mary Creagh, the former leader of Islington Labour, Meg Hillier and Maria Eagle prominent positions. The junior ranks show even more evidence of fresh blood coming through as brand-new MPs such as Chuka Umunna, Shabana Mahmood and Rushanara Ali are given non-cabinet posts.
The full Shadow Cabinet is as follows:
Leader of the Opposition
Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP
PPS to the Leader of the Opposition
Anne McGuire MP, Chuka Umunna MP
Deputy Leader and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP
Shadow Ministers for International Development
Mark Lazarowicz MP
Rushanara Ali MP
Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Rt Hon Alan Johnson MP
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Angela Eagle MP
Shadow Ministers to the Treasury
David Hanson MP
Chris Leslie MP
Kerry McCarthy MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Minister for Women and Equalities
Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MP
Shadow Ministers for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Rt Hon John Spellar MP
Wayne David MP
Stephen Twigg MP
Emma Reynolds MP
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Fiona MacTaggart MP
Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department
Rt Hon Ed Balls MP
Shadow Ministers for the Home Department
Vernon Coaker MP
Phil Woolas MP
Gerry Sutcliffe MP
Diana Johnson MP
Shabana Mahmood MP
Chief Whip
Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP
Deputy Chief Whip
Alan Campbell MP
Pairing Whip
Tony Cunningham MP
Whips
Lyn Brown MP
Mark Tami MP
David Wright MP
Assistant Whips
Stephen Pound MP
David Hamilton MP
Dave Anderson MP
Angela C Smith MP
Phil Wilson MP
Lillian Greenwood MP
Jonathan Reynolds MP
Graham Jones MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Education and Election Coordinator
Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP
Shadow Ministers for Education
Kevin Brennan MP
Sharon Hodgson MP
Iain Wright MP
Toby Perkins MP
Shadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform)
Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MP
Shadow Ministers for Justice
Chris Bryant MP
Helen Goodman MP
Andy Slaughter MP
Rob Flello MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MP
Shadow Ministers for Work and Pensions
Stephen Timms MP
Karen Buck MP
Margaret Curran MP
Rachel Reeves MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
Rt Hon John Denham MP
Shadow Ministers for Business, Innovation and Skills
Gareth Thomas MP
Ian Lucas MP
Gordon Banks MP
Gordon Marsden MP
Nia Griffith MP
Chi Onwurah MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Health
Rt Hon John Healey MP
Shadow Ministers for Health
Diane Abbott MP (Public Health)
Emily Thornberry MP
Derek Twigg MP
Liz Kendall MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Rt Hon Caroline Flint MP
Shadow Ministers for Communities and Local Government
Alison Seabeck MP
Barbara Keeley MP
Jack Dromey MP
Chris Williamson MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP
Shadow Ministers for Defence
Kevan Jones MP
Russell Brown MP
Michael Dugher MP
Gemma Doyle MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Meg Hillier MP
Shadow Ministers for Energy and Climate Change
Huw Irranca-Davies MP
Luciana Berger MP
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP
Shadow Minister for the Leader of the House of Commons
Helen Jones MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Maria Eagle MP
Shadow Ministers for Transport
Jim Fitzpatrick MP
Andrew Gwynne MP
John Woodcock MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mary Creagh MP
Shadow Ministers for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Willie Bain MP
Jamie Reed MP
Peter Soulsby MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rt Hon Shaun Woodward MP
Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland
Eric Joyce MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Ann McKechin MP
Shadow Minister for Scotland
Tom Greatrex MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Rt Hon Peter Hain MP
Shadow Minister for Wales
Owen Smith MP
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Ivan Lewis MP
Shadow Minister for the Olympics
Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP
Shadow Ministers for Culture, Media and Sport
Ian Austin MP
Gloria De Piero MP
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MP
Shadow Minister of State – Cabinet Office (also attending Shadow Cabinet meetings)
Jon Trickett MP
Shadow Minister of State – Cabinet Office
Roberta Blackman-Woods MP
Shadow Leader of the House of Lords
Rt Hon Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Lords Chief Whip
Rt Hon Lord Bassam of Brighton
Shadow Attorney-General
Rt Hon Baroness Scotland
Shadow Solicitor-General
Catherine McKinnell MP
Written by Nick Sutcliffe