Chief Whip Anneliese Midgley has written to Labour MPs this afternoon following the appointment of ministers’ Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPSs). She is promising “greater opportunities to undertake media and parliamentary activity, including on national policy”:
“Dear Colleague,
During his first week in office, the Prime Minister has been clear about his determination to change the culture of our politics and the way we work together in Westminster.
He has been clear that he wants us to build, relentlessly, a genuine culture of one Labour team. Every member of the Parliamentary Labour Party is part of that team, whether serving in Government or on the backbenches. Every colleague has a role to play, every voice should be heard, every experience valued, and everyone treated with respect.
In return, we ask every colleague to bring their ideas, energy and engagement as we work together to deliver for the British people and champion the work of this Government in communities across the country.
A key part of that approach is the role of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS). Serving as a PPS is one of the most important roles for parliamentarians and they are vitally important to the functioning of effective government.
The Prime Minister and I have therefore reviewed how we can strengthen and elevate the role so that it better reflects the way we want the Government to operate. In doing so, we have drawn on the advice of Lord David Hanson and the experience of Lord Bruce Grocott and Baroness Angela Smith, whose insights, including from serving as the PM’s PPSs themselves, have helped shape our thinking.
Over recent days, the Prime Minister and I have consulted with every Secretary of State to agree the appointments of PPSs in their teams. Our aim has been to assemble a diverse and talented group of PPSs, bringing together a broad range of experience, expertise and perspectives to support ministers and help deliver the Prime Minister’s agenda.
The appointment of Sir Nic Dakin MP as the Prime Minister’s senior PPS is a clear signal of that change we are trying to achieve. The reforms are part of the wider culture change we are determined to embed across the Government. They will include greater opportunities to undertake media and parliamentary activity, including on national policy, with the agreement of departmental media advisers, Number 10 and in line with Government policy. Sir Nic and the Whips Office will host a discussion on the updated role and expectations of Parliamentary Private Secretaries.
We want to better recognise the contribution PPSs make to their departments, to the Parliamentary Labour Party and to the success of the Government as a whole.
Thank you again for your support in recent days.”
So more bag-carriers on the media round when it’s time to bat on a sticky wicket…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”