It’s already time for big maneuvers in Westminster. In sight: the general election in the United Kingdom, possibly as early as spring 2024, certainly before the end of next year. Rishi Sunak’s government, which still clings to the tenuous hope of a victory, carried out a mini-reshuffle in late August. The conservative leader replaced Ben Wallace, popular defense minister and appreciated by his European peers, by a relative, Grant Shapps, without any military experience but a good communicator on television sets.
The very methodical Keir Starmer was quick to respond, completing, Monday, September 4, day of return of deputies to the House of Commons, the repositioning at the center of the Labor Party. The leader of the British left has revamped and sharpened his “shadow cabinet” so that he is ready to enter the electoral campaign. This will probably begin just after the annual conferences of the two parties in October.
Appointed in April 2020 to replace Jeremy Corbyn, Mr. Starmer, 61, wants sharp blades to counter the arguments of the Tories who, failing to be able to put forward a record of thirteen years of rather anemic Conservative government, are trying to open as many pitfalls as possible under the footsteps of Labour. Mr Starmer, a former Attorney General for England and Wales, also needs a team capable of governing overnight if, as polls have been predicting for 18 months, his party wins the next ballot.
Elected officials little known but deemed deserving
On Monday, he therefore dismissed those of his lieutenants who had not shone with their ability or did not share his centrist line – he abandoned the promises of nationalization and the revaluation of social benefits of his predecessor. Mr. Starmer on the contrary brought up elected officials still little known to the general public but deemed deserving, such as MP Darren Jones, who distinguished himself on economic subjects and became Minister of the Treasury, or Shabana Mahmood, an elected lawyer from Birmingham. , who recovers the portfolio of justice.
The heavyweights keep their moroccos: David Lammy is in Foreign Affairs, the very experienced Yvette Cooper in the Ministry of the Interior. Former chess champion and Bank of England economist Rachel Reeves remains in finance, in charge of promoting the party’s economic program, the keystone of the future campaign. On the other hand, Lisa Nandy, a brilliant elected representative from the North West of England but deemed not loyal enough (she was a competitor of Mr. Starmer in the race to replace Mr. Corbyn), is demoted from the Ministry of Lands and Housing to an international development secretariat.
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