Guido thought he’d spare a thought for those Labour MPs who served their time as junior shadow ministers and were swiftly snubbed by Starmer (or Sue Gray) as soon as the Party entered Downing Street. Though departments and roles have moved around and changed titles since Labour came into government, Guido has a breakdown of a list of MPs who held junior roles in Opposition until May 2024, though didn’t make the cut for the real deal:
- Florence Eshalomi – Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government.
- Jessica Morden – Shadow Minister for Wales. After holding an Opposition post since 2015, she was booted out by old timer Nia Griffith.
- Bill Esterson – Shadow Minister for Transport.
- Matthew Western – Shadow Minister for Higher Education since 2021, replaced by Brown-era Jaqui Smith as Minister for Skills.
- Helen Hayes – Shadow Minister for Children & Early Years since 2021, replaced by Janet Daby as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children, Families and Wellbeing.
- Chi Onwurah – Shadow Minister for Science. Chi served as a shadow minister every year Labour were in Opposition from 2010-2024.
- Toby Perkins – Shadow Minister for Nature and Rural Affairs replaced by Emma Hardy
- Ruth Jones – Shadow Minister for Agri-Innovation and Climate Adaptation since 2020.
- Ruth Cadbury – Shadow Minister for Prisons, Parole and Probation replaced by cobbler James Timpson.
- Chris Evans – Shadow Minister for Tech and Digital Economy.
- Tanmanjeet Dhesi – Shadow Minister for Exports replaced by Gareth Thomas.
- Gill Furniss – Shadow Minister for Work and Pensions and loyal to Starmer’s shadow cabinet since 2020.
- Mary Glindon – Opposition Whip.
Meanwhile, there’ve been cries of favouritism from MPs who’ve seen rapid promotions of a cadre of well-connected newly elected members. Some of which include:
- Hamish Falconer – minister for the Middle East and Africa. And son of former justice secretary Lord Falconer…
- Georgia Gould -Cabinet Office minister. And daughter of New Labour grandee Lord Gould and leader of Starmer’s local council…
- Sarah Sackman – Solicitor General, who worked closely with;
- Lord Hermer -Attorney General. And close ally of Starmer…
- Liam Conlon – Parliamentary private Secretary (PPS) to Transport. And Sue Gray’s son…
- Imogen Walker – PPS to the Treasury. And Morgan McSweeney’s other half…
- Torsten Bell – PPS to Cabinet Office. Left-wing think tank Resolution Foundation’s CEO and former SpAd to Alistair Darling while he was Labour’s chancellor and the visionary genius behind the Ed Stone…
Sadly for the former loyal lot, they’ve been shoved to the backbenches. Oh to be a part of the Labour elite…
