Who are the winners and losers in Starmer’s ‘New New Labour’ reshuffle?

Sir Keir’s shakeup tells us a lot about how his government might behave, says Sean O’Grady

Keir Starmer may come to need Angela Rayner more than anyone else in his shadow cabinet (Getty Images)

Sir Keir Starmer has reshuffled his shadow cabinet and quite a few of the personalities involved aren’t even household names in their own kitchens, to recycle an old political joke. Nonetheless, the shake-up tells us a good deal about how a Labour government might behave. Not all of it is encouraging.

Why is Starmer doing this now?

It does seem odd, when Rishi Sunak still hasn’t got round to his proper reshuffle of the actual government. Last week’s Wallace-Coutinho-Shapps rejig wasn’t the “real thing” and may have been forced on Sunak because of Wallace’s long-stated wish to stand down as defence secretary. A more drastic restructuring of the Sunak administration is promised for later in the year.