There has been much comment that Labour MPs didn’t look beyond the letter ‘M’ in the alphabetically ordered voting paper. That doesn’t explain the rejection of Abbott, Bradshaw and Bryant. Guido would point out only that the MPs rejected Woodward a toff, gayers Bradshaw and Bryant, Abbott who is black and Hain who is orange. As a result Labour’s Shadow Cabinet is just as white and straight as the government’s Cabinet.

UPDATE : Toby Young points out that half the Shadow Cabinet went to Oxbridge and 40% of them were privately educated. The Tories also point out that all of Ed Miliband’s “new generation” Shadow Cabinet members were on the government payroll when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister. Eighteen were ministers Mary Creagh was a Government whip. Of the top ten Shadow Cabinet members, not one of them chose Ed Miliband as their first choice in the leadership election.