'We're moving north': Why Starmer's reshuffle signals a shift in focus ahead of next election

Labour have a new top team, after a hectic day of hiring and firing for Keir Starmer concluded on Monday night.

Despite stoking what seemed to be an entirely avoidable row with his deputy Angela Rayner, the leader’s team seem very happy that they have now have their top performers in prominent posts.

Lisa Nandy has been moved to what the party see as their key portfolio, levelling up, and will do battle with Michael Gove in parliament.

Yvette Cooper has returned to the frontbench as shadow home secretary, after years skewering ministers and officials on the Home Affairs Select Committee, and in the process – as my colleague Jon Craig points out – given her future leadership chances a boost if she can hold her marginal seat in Yorkshire.

There are plenty of reasons to see the reshuffle as a shift to the centre, and indication of where Starmer’s politics really lie. Arch critics of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, such as Wes Streeting now at health, and Bridget Phillipson at education, were given big promotions.

But on Sky News earlier, Nandy claimed the changes are less to do with left and right, and more about Labour shifting focus to the north, where the party lost swathes of safe seats in 2019.

“We’re moving north, you can keep that left-right debate”, she said.

Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper’s big comeback is sure to shorten her odds of winning party’s top job in future

Labour reshuffle: Yvette Cooper promoted to shadow home secretary and Lisa Nandy to shadow Michael Gove on levelling up brief

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Mentioning now-Conservative Grimsby, Aberdeen, which fell to the SNP, and Barnsley, which remains Labour, she said: “We’re going to go out in the country and start delivering to people in towns and villages which have been completely abandoned by the political system”.

Cooper, Nandy, Phillipson, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and newly promoted business secretary Jonathan Reynolds all represent northern constituencies.

Keir Starmer, formerly lukewarm on high speed rail which attracted opposition in his north London constituency, has now suggested Labour would fund HS2 to Leeds in full and the proposed Northern Powerhouse railway via Bradford.

The government’s announcement of its levelling up plans, in a white paper expected next week, is seen as a key moment for Labour to try and unpick the promises to seats which shifted to the Tories.

A Labour source says there is an “element of rebalancing” geographically in this reshuffle, as well as gaining in experience and promoting the best communicators.

“It’s a rocky road ahead, but he’s got momentum, with a small ‘m’, partly through government mistakes but also us capitalising on them. We now have people in key positions who can just go for it.”

Jeremy Corbyn’s top team had a leader, shadow chancellor, home secretary, foreign secretary, and of course Brexit spokesman in Sir Keir, all representing London seats.

The past two years have allowed Keir Starmer to tackle his party’s rules and structures to lock out the far left from power. This is a shift in focus to the huge task of the next election.

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