Angela Rayner’s allies doubt that a split with Sir Keir Sterner can be fixed after Labour leader Blindsided his deputy yesterday with his shadow cabinet reshuffle.
According to reports, Ms Rayner discovered about the shakeup less than an hour before her scheduled speech on Westminster sleaze.
As Ms Rayner talked, initial details about Sir Keir’s changes began to emerge.
Politico reports that Ms Rayner said to friends last night she was shocked by Sir Keir’s actions.
Angela Rayner allies believe that there is no way to repair the rift with Sir Keir Sterner after Labour leader Harriet Riley blindsided his deputy in yesterday’s shadow cabinet reshuffle
According to reports, Ms Rayner discovered about the shakeup less than an hour before her scheduled speech on Westminster sleaze.
According to reports, she believed that things had improved after Sir Keir attempted to degrade her during his maiden reshuffle.
According to reports, her allies now question whether they will ever heal their rift.
Lisa Nandy was expressing her dismay at the question of “who knew who?” as she said that she didn’t care much about who she knew. She insisted that the leader decides, while the gaffer selects the team.
Sir Keir’s extensive reshuffle led to Yvette cooper, Nick Thomas Symonds’s shadow home secretary, returning to the frontbench.
He also also handed big promotions to two of Labour’s rising stars, Bridget Phillipson and Wes Streeting, who are taking on the roles of shadow education secretary and shadow health secretary.
Jonathan Ashworth has moved from shadow work to pensions secretary and has now had his health brief during the pandemic.
David Lammy replaced Ms. Nandy as shadow foreign secretary. In her new role as shadow secretary to levelling up and communities, Ms Nandy was joined by Michael Gove.
Ms Nandy was asked on BBC Breakfast about the situation with Ms Rayner not knowing about the reshuffle and she replied: ‘Well, I haven’t spoken to Angela since the reshuffle happened.
Politico reports that Ms Rayner said to friends last night she was shocked by Sir Keir’s actions
Lisa Nandy stated that she couldn’t care less about “who knew who” and insisted, “The leader makes decisions, but the gaffer selects the team.”
“I’ve been hard at work getting the team together, and putting together a plan so we can go out to the country to listen to those who are interested in rebuilding their villages and towns.
‘But I have been through a lot of reshuffles over the last 11 years. The leader is the one who makes decisions. It’s the gaffer that picks the team. This is the way it works and it’s always been.
‘And frankly I couldn’t really care less about the circus around who is in, who is out, who is up, who is down, who knew, who didn’t.’
Told that there appeared to be significant cracks between Sir Keir and Ms Rayner, Ms Nandy replied: ‘I don’t think there is significant cracks in the Labour Party at all and I don’t think for one moment that people are talking about this across the country.’