The Labour Party Shadow Cabinet 2020

 The Labour  Shadow Cabinet 2020

The new Leader of the Labour Party and Official Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons has appointed his first Shadow Cabinet  in the exceptional circumstances of  the Coronavirus pandemic, Parliament in a prolonged  Easter Recess, the majority of British citizens living in fear, and in a very different daily life from that experienced three to four weeks ago. For up to the next two years, but reviewed every six months, we are governed by the Coronavirus Act 2020, which builds upon the Civil Contingencies Act and regulations of 2004, which in turn was based on the Emergency Powers Acts of 1964 and 1920. The Leader of the Opposition and the Labour Party is joining in the national effort to minimise the number of deaths, and work with the government to ensure that as soon as the evidence becomes available, everyone can return to work and enjoy their leisure in a radically changed situation with many across the political party spectrum saying that fundamental changes in how the British nations function will be necessary and that we will need to value differently what people do, particularly the refuse collectors, the cleaners, the transport workers, the social carers, medical and  nursing staff, all those responsible for the maintenance of law and good order together with those who provide services to the public at national, regional and local level.

We are unlikely to know if the new Leader of the Labour Party would have selected  the same Shadow Cabinet if the pandemic had not happened. It is noteworthy that the majority have not held Government or Shadow Cabinet positions before, but they have a wealth of life and political experience with an average of 53  and are geographically representative, with a diverse range in gender, race, religion, ability and disability which makes up the British State. By any standards of judgement, he has appointed some remarkable individuals with several having led extraordinary lives. The following information is based on Wikipedia biographies, the records of General Elections and wide range of recognised media sources.

Sir Keir Starmer (57) was elected the new Leader of the Labour Party on the first ballot with 275980 votes out of 4900731 of the 784151 eligible voters, twice as many as the second candidates and four times as many as the third. His parents  were a nurse and a tool maker with Still disease; a Young Socialist having passed the 11 plus to grammar school, he obtained a first class law degree at Leeds University and then in civil law at Oxford, becoming a barrister, in 1987 working on human rights issues, and an adviser human rights issues in Northern Ireland and to the Police. In 2008 he became the Director of Public Prosecutions. He became a Member of Parliament in the 2015 General Election replacing Frank Dobson at Holborn and St Pancras with a 17048 majority. (27673 2019). Appointed Shadow Brexit Secretary he impressed me with his incisive and clinical exposure of the Government’s position and showed great skill in achieving a credible compromise in what proved a failed attempt to unite the Party on the issue. He is married to a solicitor with two children who are being raised in the Jewish faith of their mother which evidently has influenced his priority to healing the division with the Jewish community caused by allegations of antisemitism without changing the Party’s position of recognising Palestine as an independent state.

Angela Rayner (40) is the new elected deputy Leader of the Labour Party and the new Chairman of the Party, and like Keir was first elected to Parliament in 2015. She has been Shadow Secretary of State for Education for the past four years. Angela has been open that she left secondary school pregnant aged 16 years without any examinations passes. She is the Member of Parliament for Ashton Under Lyne with an original majority of 10476 (4263 in 2019). Angela  qualified as a social care worker at Stockport College and also learned sign language working for Stockport Social Services Department as a care worker, elected as a Unison Trade Union representative and became the union’s senior official in the North West. Angela is married with three children, and a grandmother who self-isolated in March with Coronavirus symptoms on medical advice.

Rachel Reeves(41) has been appointed to take control of  shadow Cabinet Office, overseeing the work of the Shadow Ministries and chairing the Shadow Policy committees. Born and educated in London she became the under 14 British Chess champion and passed A Levels in Politics, Mathematics, Further mathematics and Economics, before graduating at Oxford(Philosophy Politics and Economics) and a Masters’ degree at the London School of Economics. She worked at the Bank of England and the British Embassy in Washington. She has been the Member of Parliament for Leeds West since 2010 Majority 7000 and 10500 in 2019. She was Shadow Chief Secretary Treasury in 2011 when her views have aroused  considerable controversy within the Left of the Party. She has written a biography of Alice Bacon, married a civil servant who became private secretary to Gordon Brown. She has a younger sister also an MP and married to the MP John Cryer. It is not yet known if she will deputise for the Leader at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Alongside Angela and Rachel, in terms of their importance in the likely future circumstances arising from the Coronavirus pandemic, will be the new Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Annelise Dodds (42), the first woman in British history to be appointed to the position, replacing John McDonald, and who is said to have recommended her. She was appointed Chief Shadow Financial Secretary following her election to the House of Commons in June 2017 at Oxford East  as the Labour and Co Op candidate with a majority of 17832. Anneliese was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and graduated with a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford, a Masters’ degree in Social Policy at Edinburgh and a doctorate at the London School of Economics, becoming a lecturer in Public Policy in 2007 at Kings College London and senior lecturer of Public Policy at Aston University in 2010. In 2014 she was elected to the European Parliament, serving on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. She is regarded as the brains of Labour’s Economic policy and 2019 costed election manifesto.

Keir Starmer has appointed to the Cabinet, as he committed to so when addressing the Leadership husting held at Durham which I attended, his two female contenders in the Leadership ballot.

Rebecca Long Baily (40) who came second with 135218 votes (27.6%) has moved from shadow Secretary at the department of Business to Education, the position  previously held by Angela Rayner. Becky as she is known to party colleagues is another of the exceptional women who first entered the House of Commons in 2015 General Election, representing Salford and Eccles( majority 12500 increased in 2019 to over 16000). Born in Old Trafford, her father was a Salford docker. She attended  Chester Catholic Girls High School, working in various jobs before studying Politics and Sociology at Manchester University and then completed various part time courses to become a solicitor in 2007 and joined the Labour Party in 2010. She was one of the Members of the Parliamentary Labour Party to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in 2015 and was appointed  a Shadow Minister at the Treasury and then shadow Chief Secretary before moving as Shadow Secretary of State. As a Catholic she supports women’s right to abortion and also expressed concern at the way the party first responded to  claims of antisemitism.

Lisa Nandy, (41) was third in the leadership election with 79597 votes (16.2%) has been appointed Foreign Secretary and has an unusual and politically interesting background. On her mother’s side her grandfather with the well-known Liberal politician Frank Byers. Her father is the Marxist Dipak Nandy,  who has held National positions in Britain on Race Relations and Equal Opportunities,  also advising the Home Office. Little known is that Lisa chaired Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle east and was also endorsed in the leadership bid by the Jewish Labour movement.  She studied politics at Newcastle and then a masters’ in public policy at London University. She has advised the Children’s Society, and the Children’s Commissioner, England and for one year 2012 was Shadow Children’s Minister. She has impressed with her appearances on political programmes demonstrating wisdom and a willingness to listen to other viewpoints but sticking to socialist values without appearing confrontational.

Lisa replaces one of the original leadership candidates, Emily Thornbury (59)  who has now become the Shadow Secretary for International Trade which led to Barry Gardiner leaving the Shadow Cabinet. It is not general known that Emily had a challenging childhood with free school meals and food parcels. Failing the 11 plus she attended a secondary modern school and worked as a cleaner and a bar maid while resitting and O levels and then taking A levels. She studied law at the university of Kent, becoming a became a human rights barrister between 1985 and 2005 working for Michael Mansfield, the influential socialist lawyer  among  whose client have been Mohamed Al Fayed and Hillsborough victims . Elected to Parliament in 2005 with only a majority of 484 she returned to the Commons in 2019 with a majority of over 17000.

Having appointed four women to key positions in the Shadow Cabinet an unexpected development has been the appointment of the nationally unknown Nick Thomas Symonds (39) as Shadow Home Secretary after Diane Abbott did not wish to be considered.  Yvette Cooper who had previously held the position and presently chairs the Home Affairs Select Committee and the Committee formed of select committee chairpersons had been expected by some to have returned to the post.

Nick represents his birthplace of Torfaen, Wales, with a reduced majority of 4000 in 2019 from 10000 2017 and 8000 in 2015.  He had a glittering academic career appointed a university tutor aged 21 after graduating at Oxford with a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and publishing political biographies of Atlee and Bevan. He became a Barrister holding shadow minister jobs in Pensions and Employment before becoming the Security Minister at the Home Office, in addition being Shadow Solicitor General for Wales.

What could prove a major appointment in gaining the approval from all political wings of  the Parliamentary and Constituency Parties, together with the Trade unions, is the return to the Cabinet of former Party Leader Ed Miliband (50 )2010-2015. His father, Ralph Miliband was a Marxist Polish Jewish immigrant who came to Britain to escape the Nazi Holocaust  and the Miliband Family moved from London to Leeds in 1972 when Ralph became Professor of Politics at the University and then two occasions  to the USA when his father as a visiting lecturer. Before going to university, Ed worked as an Intern with family friend Tony Benn graduating from Oxford with a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics dropping philosophy and converting to an Arts degree before taking an economics Masters’ degree at the London School of Economics. He became a political adviser to Harriet Harman in 1994 and to Gordon Brown in 1997. In 2003 he returned to the United  States to himself  lecture at Harvard and reported to Gordon Brown on the  presidential campaign of John Kerry.  He was elected to the Commons in 2005 for Doncaster North where in 1970 as Assistant County Children’s officer, for the West Riding, I worked with the regional Home Office Inspectorate  on an issue of child sexual exploitation and political corruption.

Ed was first elected with a majority of 12000, in 2019 2370, making the traditionally safe Labour seat marginal. In 2006 he joined the Cabinet Office Ministerial team with responsibility for voluntary and charity organisations. In 2007 when Gordon Brown became Labour Leader he promoted Ed to the Cabinet in the role now  taken by Rachel Reeves and was tasked with leading the drafting for the 2010 General Election Manifesto. In 2008 he headed the new shadow department for Energy and Climate Change, a subject likely to continue to influence his role as the new Business Secretary and for Energy and Industrial Strategy. 

Much has been written about the feud said to have initiated by his brother David against Ed because of successfully standing against him in 2010 Leadership and where they had taken different positions about the decision to bomb and invade Iraq. Throughout his tenure as Leader, it was evident Ed wanted to forge a compromise between the political wings of the Party and establish a new centre left approach to politics. While the campaign against him by the Tory Party supporting media was not as strong as that against Jeremy Corbyn, the outcome was similar, and the public endorsed continuation of the Conservative and Liberal Democratic austerity programme at the 2015 general election. This paved the way for Jeremy Corbyn leadership election successes. In fact, the Labour Party in 2017 and 2019, promoted policies and expenditure programmes modest by comparison to those recently announced by the Johnson and Sunak administration in response to the pandemic.

His brother, David Miliband became the Member of Parliament for South Shields in 2001 where I worked as Director of Social Services South Tyneside1974-1990 and have lived since 2004. I first had direct contact with David over the premature death of my childhood care mother in 2003 and he arranged for me to meet with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Department of Health which led to a Health Ombudsman investigation and review report by the Deputy Chief Ombudsman. In a telephone conversation from him in 2010 I supported his candidature for Leadership of the Party because of what he had done for the Borough since becoming its Member of Parliament and  I hoped he would be able to do as a Prime Minister. In 2011 I sent him a paper  on concerns arising from the Summer rioting, a copy of what he said he passed to shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper who I supported in the 2015 leadership election. The book, published by his father on Parliamentary Socialism  together with the New Left book, Out of Apathy, influenced my political thinking.

The second significant return to office is that of Lord Falconer (79) as the Attorney General, a man who also held government office  throughout the Blair administrations as Solicitor General (England and Wales), Housing and Planning, Home Affairs, Constitutional Affairs, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He and Tony Blair shared a flat when they were young barristers in the late 1970’s. Lord Falconer  and his family own a country retreat in Nottinghamshire, and he has been awarded an Honorary degree by the University of Nottingham Trent. Of interest to me because of my national involvement in the prevention of substance abuse throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s he has taken the view that prohibition has created the world wide manufacture, transportation and distribution by organised by violent criminals, and profited by many holding positions of power, including use by governments in their foreign policies and interventions. I also like the fact that he became addicted to Diet Coke when embarked on a major weigh losing diet which comprised of eating mainly apples.

Jo Stevens (53) is the new Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. She was born in Swansea, studied Law at Manchester University and became a qualified solicitor in 1989, representing  Cardiff Central in 2015 where she has increased her majority from just under  4000 to over 17000 at the 2019 general election.  She was  appointed shadow solicitor general and justice minister in 2016 and then Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. She chairs the GMB Parliamentary Group which funds more Labour Members of Parliament than any other union.

Luke Pollard (40) is another Parliamentary newcomer(2017) brought into the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Openly gay, his constituency office has been vandalised with homophobic slurs. Born in Plymouth he held on to the seat of Plymouth Sutton in 2019 with a reduced majority because of the intervention of former conservative Ann Widdicombe who stood for the Brexit Party after winning  a seat in European Parliament earlier in the year. Luke graduated from Exeter university first class honours in Politics  with  an interest in the politics of the European Union and International Terrorism. For five years was head of public affairs for the British Association of Travel Agents.

The son of a submariner based at Devonport he has supported a number of causes for the south west and a year after entering the Commons was appointed by Jeremy Corbyn the Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Defence.

Another new member of the shadow Labour team is Bridget Phillipson (36) the Member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South appointed as Chief Secretary at the Treasury, thus the two individuals heading Labour’s policy on the economy are women. Bridget was born in Gateshead, joined the Labour Party aged 15 and graduated in modern history at Oxford in 2005, during which time she co-chaired the university Labour party. Between 2007 and 2010 she managed  Sunderland’s women’ refuge. On election to the Commons in became elected the chairperson of the All Party Group on Domestic and sexual violence. Her majority dropped from over 12000 to 3000 in 2019. Bridgit has been  a member of the Public Accounts Committee and on the Statutory Instruments committee involved in leaving the E.E.C.

Appointed to shadow cabinet is Cat Smith (34) was elected to the House of Commons for the constituency of Lancaster and Fleetwood in 2015, gaining the seat from  a Conservative 1265, increasing the majority in 2017, and winning the seat again in 2019 with a reduced majority of 2380. She nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership in 2015 having worked for his political office after graduation in Sociology and gender studies at Lancaster university and was appointed at Shadow Minister for women. She had been clear and outspoken on her views as a Methodist Christian, socialist, feminist, republican and trade unionist. She is now a  shadow Cabinet Office Minister responsible for Voter engagement and Youth Affairs in addition to being deputy Opposition Leader of the House of Commons to Valerie Vaz who continues in  this role. Cat was policy officer for the British Association of Social Workers.

Baroness Smith of Basildon (61) remains Labour’s Opposition leader in the House of Lords. Angela Smith graduated in Public Administration at Leicester Polytechnic and was a trainee accountant in the London Borough of Newham before  work for the League against Cruel Sports 1983-1995 heading its political and public relations team. She was first elected to Basildon in 1997 and had various positions including that of Gordon Brown’s Parliamentary Private Secretary in 2007. She became a life peer  in 2010 and in 2015  joined the Shadow Cabinet as Party Leader in the Lords.

David Lammy (47) an activist for the leadership campaign of Keir Starmer is the new Minister for Justice replacing deputy leader candidate Richard Burgon. Born in north London to parents from Guyana, David has chaired the all-party group on fatherhood, stemming from his mother with four children becoming a single parent when he was 12. By then he had won a choral scholarship to Peterborough Cathedral Choir and then studied law at London University and Harvard before becoming a barrister. Intending to become Greater London Councillor, the death of the member for Tottenham led to him to be selected and winning the seat in the by-election with majority of over 5000 in 2000 which he has increased to over 30000. He held a number of government positions in the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown governments.

In 2015 he nominated Jeremy Corbyn for the  Leadership and attempted to become Labour’s candidate for the position of London’s Mayor. David’s passionate, outspoken and direct views make him an interesting appointment as secretary of State at the department of Justice.

Preet Gaur Gill (47) is the first female Sikh MP of Parliament, elected in 2017 to the midland’s constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston with a majority of just under 7000 and appointed the Shadow Minister for International  Development by Corbyn in 2018 and Secretary of State by Starmer. Her mother was a seamstress, and her father a bus driver who was President of the Sikh temple in Smethwick. The eldest of seven children she attended Bournville College becoming the student president, graduating with a first class degree at London University in Sociology  and Social Work. Preet worked in a kibbutz in Israel and street children in India. She was elected to Sandwell Council in 2012 and 2016. Before he role as shadow minister she served on the Home Affairs select Committee. She is married to a social worker.

Baron Tommy McAvoy, (76), the former Scottish member of Parliament for Glasgow and Rutherglen 2005-2010 was a storeman and trade union shop steward at the Hoover factory in Cambuslang. He worked in the Whips office, a role in which he continued in House of Lords 2010, swapping  the role  of Deputy Chief Labour Whip and also acting as  spokesperson for Scotland and Northern Ireland  issues. He has the distinction of  remaining popular with Labour Parliamentarians from all wings of the Party for his practical common sense approach being formally congratulated by colleagues in 2006. It  is anticipated that together with Ian Murray he will represents the interest of Scotland, on working with the Scottish Nationalist Party, while opposing their aim of Independence.

Deputy Leadership candidate Ian Murray (43) is not only Labour’s sole Member of Parliament in Scotland but increased his majority from 316 (2010) to over 15000 in 2017) the highest since a Unionist Member in 1951. He has been appointed the shadow Secretary of State for Scotland. Born in Edinburgh, his mother a shop assistant and his father a Cooper, he graduated at 20,working part time, developed business skills and says what he believes to be right irrespective of personal political consequences. Without winning back a substantial number of seats in Scotland from the Nationalists and other parties, the Labour Party will not  be able to form a majority government, so his role is crucial. From what he said at the hustings in Durham and read about him since, I believe he has the drive, skill and experience required for the challenge.

The new Secretary of State for Wales is the extraordinary among extraordinary members of the new Shadow Cabinet Nia Griffiths (64) who speaks five languages English, Welsh, Italian, French and Spanish. Born in Dublin to an academic Welsh family she was educated in Hull and graduated with a first class language degree from Oxford before training as a teacher at the university of Wales. She became an Education Inspector in Wales. A member of the National Union of Teachers and the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers  she also founded a Local women’s Aid organisation. Before entering Parliament 2005 (Llanelli with a majority of 7234 increased to 12000 2017, reduced to 4600 in 2019) Nia became secretary of the Carmarthenshire Labour Party and a local authority Councillor for ten years.  Married to a social worker she divorced and in 2016 disclosed herself as a lesbian. Originally the Welsh Secretary in 2015 I thought she looked uncomfortable in her role as secretary of State for Defence and  will lead several  Shadow Cabinet members to represent the interests of Wales.

Keir Starmer has reappointed the influential and veteran Manchester politician Tony Lloyd (70) as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland at a time of crisis with the power sharing executive only re-established in January after an absence for three years. He was admitted to hospital with coronavirus where he is reported to be responding to treatment. Because of this situation Keir Starmer has appointed Louis Haig (32) to deputise in his absence and having done so it can be assumed she will  appointed to a Ministerial post when Tony is able to return to office.

Tony Lloyd was raised in Stretford Manchester, attending the grammar school and the graduating at Nottingham university in Mathematics before the Manchester business school and becoming a lecturer in business studies at Salford University. His father died when he was 13. H has said that his mother a staunch Labour supporter who had friends who died in Spanish Civil War,  influenced “his good versus evil approach to politics’ and ‘if  politics is not about fighting for what is right and just, then what is politics for?’  When Deputy Leader at Trafford Council, he was elected at Stretford in 1983. He left the Commons to become Police and Crime Commissioner for Manchester and  lost to Andy Burnham in the contest for Mayor. He returned as MP for Rochdale in 2017.

The professional politician John Healey (60) has held Ministerial and Shadow Minister positions under Blair, Brown. Corbyn and now Starmer as Secretary of State for Defence. Born in Wakefield he was educated in Pickering and York  a degree in social and political science at Cambridge working first as a political journalist before becoming a disability rights campaigner. In 1994 he became  campaign director of the Trade Union Congress and a tutor at the Open University Business School.  He was elected to the Wentworth constituency in 1997, a safe leader seat with a majority of just under 24000. The majority was reduced in the change constituency of 2010  covering parts of Rotherham and Barnsley, the area for which I had responsibility and for Doncaster, when Assistant County Children’s Officer in 1970. The intervention of a Brexit candidate reduced the majority to 2165 in 2019.

Jonathan Reynolds (39) is the new Work and Pensions Secretary of State. He was born in Houghton Le Spring in Tyne and Wear  and although moved to Manchester in 1998 he supports Sunderland Football Club. The eldest of his four children is autistic and is Vice chair of the all party interest group on Autism. He graduated in Politics and Modern History at Manchester university before attending one of the seven private advance education establishments in Britain provided by BBP holdings, its Manchester Law school and trained as a solicitor.

He was elected to Tameside Council in 2007 and served on Labour’s National Executive 2003-2005. One of several Cooperative Party members of the Shadow Cabinet he also is a member of the Unite union. Although describing himself as  a political moderate, he is in favour of a universal basic income and supports renationalization of the railways, Elected in 2010 for Stalybridge and Hyde in Greater Manchester with a majority of 2744 he increased this to 8044 in 2017 but suffered a  loss to 2946 in 2019.

Jon Ashworth, (41) as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with Baroness Smith, Valerie Vaz and Nick Brown is only the fourth member of the Corbyn Shadow Cabinet to undertake the same role. He was educated in Bury and studied politics and philosophy at Durham. In 2000 he was the National Secretary of Labour Students and work on policy and research for the Labour Party in 2001. From 2004 he worked as an advisor to Treasury Ministers and  became Political Secretary at Number 10 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Jonathan entered the House of Commons in 2011 for Leicester South in the byelection with a majority of 12000 which he increased to 26261 in 2017 and suffered only a small reduction to 22675 in 2019.  Although  his candidature was supported by Unite, Unison and the GMB unions he wrote in the Daily Telegraph saying that ordinary people, not the unions chose Labour MP’s. He  voted against bombing in Syria and made headline during the 2019 campaign quoted as saying to a political friend that the Party would not win the election because of Corbyn’s Leadership and the position on Brexit. He played a leading role in debates in the Commons on the Coronavirus before Parliament went into early recess and this is likely to be a factor in retaining his position.

Valerie Vaz (66) is continuing as the Shadow Leader of the House Commons, first appointed by Jeremy Corbyn in 2016. She and her younger brother, the former member of the House of  Commons, Keith Vaz were born in Aden in what is now war torn Yemen. The family are distant descendants of a Catholic Saint and grew up in England at Twickenham and East Sheen although her parents came from India where her father worked for the Times of India and in the airline industry before taking his own life when she was 16 After attending the Twickenham County Grammar School she obtained a degree in Biochemistry at London University and matriculated at a Cambridge College undertaking research. In 1984 she qualified as a solicitor and  became a deputy district court Judge. She also worked as a Treasury Solicitor at the Ministry of Justice.  She was elected to Ealing Borough Council 1986-1990 and became Deputy Leader. She became the  M.P for Walsall South in 2010 with  a majority of 1755 increasing the majority to 8892 in 2017, reduced to 3456 in 2019. She is wickedly entertaining in her weekly analysis taking apart the Governments legislative programme and her performance rivalling the  studious Victorian eloquence of the present Leader, William Reese Mogg.

Nick Brown (69) has been the Member of Parliament for Newcastle Upon Tyne East since 1983 with a majority of 7492 doubled in 2019 but ten percent lower than 2017. He has been appointed the Chief Whip for Labour Members in the House of Commons during the Blair, Brown, Corbyn and now Starmer Leadership.

Educated at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School he graduated at Manchester University and became legal adviser for what was then the General and Municipal and Boiler  Makers Union in 1978, the most powerful union today in financially sponsoring Labour Members in the House of Commons. He was also elected to the City Council in1980. In 1985 he was appointed a spokesman on Legal Affairs in the Commons.  Although working closely with Blair and Brown he became known as the staunchest ally of Gordon. Ed Miliband asked him to stand down in 2010 to achieve a break with the past  and he was out of favour until 2016 when his skills were recognised by Jeremy Corbyn. He is a supporter of Humanists UK and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.

Steven Reed (57) is the new Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and was Leader of Lambeth Council from 2006 to 2012.  He was born and raised in St Albans, Hertfordshire where his family worked  for the Odhams printing firm. I persuaded my childhood care mother to buy me Odhams’ History of World War Two, in two volumes after reading the War Crimes Tribunal Reports on Bergen Belson and Auschwitz at the Wallington Public Reference Library recommended by the Jesuit modern history teacher when I was 15. Steven Reed  joined the Labour party before going to study English at Sheffield University and worked in the educational publishing Industry from 1990 to 2008. He became Deputy of the Local Government Association which brought together all the local authority associations which had first come together to establish a local authority strategy and programme for drugs abuse prevention and treatment which I helped established, becoming an adviser and chaired meetings of the adviser’s group. His various roles in Local government led him to become one the most influential people in Local Government. He was first elected to Croydon North in the 2012 byelection with a majority of over 2500 which he increased to over 30000 in 2017. 

The father of Thangam Debbonaire  (53),  the new Secretary of State for Housing is of Indian Sri Lankan Tamil background. She was born in Peterborough and  educated at the Bradford Girls Grammar School and Cheetham School of Music, before commencing a Mathematics degree at Oxford and training as a  cellist at the Royal School of Music. She gained an MSc in Management Development and Social Responsibility at Bristol University. In addition to performing professionally with orchestras including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic she worked as National Children’s Officer for the women’s Ai Federation and also as National Research Manager for anti-domestic violence organisation. She co-authored two books and a number of papers on domestic violence before beings elected and winning the constituency of Bristol West from the Liberal Democrats in 2015 with a majority of 5500 which she turned into a majority of over 37000 in 2017 after recovering from breast cancer reduced to 28000 in 2019. On 15^th September 2017 she held he first constituency surgery for people with the autism spectrum.  She has strong views on a  number of subjects including the needs for a different policy and strategy on drug misuse but at same time on the  need for greater regulation of alcohol because of the link with cancer.

She is married to an opera singer, a former  actor who also works as a Director of charity working with children with special educational needs.

Jim McMahon (39) is the new Secretary of State for Transport, and is the son of a lorry driver, leaving school at sixteen in Manchester and working as an apprentice technician nd then senior technician at Manchester university from 1997 to 2004, when he joined local government in its regeneration programme and as a town centre manager. He was elected to Oldham City Council 2003 and became the Labour Group leader in 2008 and Council Leader in 2011-2016 before becoming the M.P for  Oldham West and Royton following the death of Michael Meacher. He came to national attention for bringing the principles of the cooperative movement into local government as chairman of the Cooperative Council innovation Network and then in a cross party attempt to lower the voting age in general elections to sixteen.

Marsha Chantel De Cordova (44) is the new Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. One of a family of six children, including the professional footballer Cordova Reid at Fulham and for Jamaica. Marsha was born visually disabled with nystagmus, graduating with a degree in law at London South Bank university working for number a number of charities until defeating the Conservative Member for Battersea after serving on Lambeth Council since 2014. Marsha converted the Conservative majority of 8000 to one for Labour of over 2000  in 2017 which against the trend for the Party she increased to 5500 in 2019. On entering Parliament, Marsha  was immediately appointed shadow minister for the disabled by Jeremy Corbyn and appointed to the cabinet by Keir Starmer.

Andy McDonald (62) is the new Shadow Secretary  for Employment Rights  moving from Transport where has been  Shadow Minister and then Shadow Secretary  since 2016. Born in Acklam, Middlesbrough, he attended local Catholic schools before studying for a law degree at Leeds Polytechnic. For twenty years he worked in several roles in the claimants specialising legal firm of Thompsons throughout the North, Cumbria and North Yorkshire, heading the claims unit for members of British Armed Forces. And was special adviser to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee investigation on Armed Forces Pensions and Compensation. He was elected to Middlesbrough Council in 1995. He was elected to the House of Commons in the 2012 byelection following the death of Sir Stuart Bell and in 2013 he became Private Parliamentary Secretary to Emily Thornberry, then the Shadow Attorney General and then for Chuka Umunna  when he was shadow Secretary for Business.

I have left to last  the appointment about which I was so thrilled  that I shouted out “yes” within hearing of my neighbours.

Dr Rosena Chantelle Allin-Kahn (43) is the new Minister for Mental Health in the Cabinet. She was born in Tooting to a Polish singer in the girl group Filipinki who met her Pakistani background father when the band toured in London. The couple separated after having two children and Mrs Allin Kahan worked three jobs to support her family.

Rosena also worked part time to fund a degree in medical biochemistry at Brunel University and studied medicine at Cambridge funded through scholarships. She also obtained a master’s degree in Public Health and worked as a humanitarian aid doctor, continuing to work shifts as a junior doctor in the accident and emergency department of St George’s Hospital Tooting in addition to her  role as a Member of Parliament since 2016 when she replaced Sadiq Khan when he became Mayor. 

Previously Rosena served  on Wandsworth Council and became Deputy Leader of the Labour group. The byelection occurred on the same day as the political assassination of Jo Cox and she doubled  the Labour majority from 3000 to 6000 which she more than doubled to 15000 in 2017 reduced to 14000 in 2020

She was regarded as the least likely of the five candidates to become Deputy Leader following the resignation of Tom Watson but finished second.

She is a practicing Muslim and an amateur female boxer where she is also the Balham team doctor.