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4 months ago
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Angela Rayner
Many will now be looking to Angela Rayner – as John Prescott before her – to serve as custodian of its traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership.
Like her predecessor, she worked her way up the hard way, leaving school at 16 having grown up in the squalor of a rundown council estate in Stockport, and cutting her teeth as a trade union official before embarking on a career in parliament.
A self-proclaimed socialist, the deputy leader's current brief also includes housing, levelling up and communities – one of the most contentious elements of the new Government's policy agenda.
This is expected to involve overseeing a major extension or workers' rights including the creation of a new watchdog with powers to fine and prosecute errant employers.
Disclosures in an unauthorised biography by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft about Ms Rayner's sale of a council house in 2015 led to a Greater Manchester Police investigation after the Tories complained she may have broken electoral law and dodged capital gains tax.
When the force announced – just days into the election campaign – that they would be taking no further action, Sir Keir said she had been fully vindicated, while she dismisses the saga as a Conservative bid to 'clip my wings'.
Rachel Reeves
When BBC Newsnight editor Ian Katz unwittingly tweeted his view of Rachel Reeves as 'boring, snoring' during an TV appearance in 2013, she admitted to feeling slightly humiliated.
But she also made clear where her priorities were. 'Glamorous and exciting are probably not two things you'd want from someone in charge of public finances – you want someone who's steady, who's serious, who's responsible,' she told the Guardian.
A former child chess champion who counts a stint at the Bank of England and four years in private-sector banking among her credentials, Ms Reeves is said by allies to have the type of analytical mind required for the challenges that await her at the Treasury.
With her promise to serve as the country's 'iron' chancellor and emphasis on supply-side reform, she has invited comparisons between herself and Margaret Thatcher, to the dismay of some on the left.
But Ms Reeves has been unapologetically pro-business, talking up growth as the linchpin of success in government and embarking on her so-called 'smoked salmon offensive' of breakfast meetings with leaders of the FTSE250 in the months before the election.
Against the daunting backdrop of a sluggish economy and competing demands for public spending, Britain's first ever female chancellor will be responsible for sticking to Labour's strict fiscal rules while implementing a series of tax hikes – hitting wealthy non-doms, oil and gas giants and private schools – to help fund its plans for improved public services.
Yvette Cooper
A rising star under New Labour, Yvette Cooper was relegated to the back benches during Jeremy Corbyn's leadership before returning to the shadow cabinet with her home affairs brief under Sir Keir.
A taste for politics emerged during her days at a comprehensive school in Hampshire, where she has recalled staging a 'prefects' strike' in protest over the disciplining of a fellow prefect for wearing the wrong colour socks.
Awarded a Kennedy scholarship after studying politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University, Ms Cooper previously served as chief secretary to the Treasury in the Brown administration.
Her marriage to Ed Balls, Mr Brown's former adviser and close confidante, made them the first couple to sit in Cabinet together.
Ms Cooper has announced a series of pledges as shadow home secretary, including to clear the asylum backlog, create a cross-border police unit to crack down on criminal smuggling gangs and put 13,000 more neighbourhood officers on the beat.
She is set to inherit one of the most scrutinised briefs in government, as the UK grapples with an asylum backlog and small boat crossings in the English Channel.
Pat McFadden
As shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and national campaign coordinator since 2023, veteran frontbencher Pat McFadden has played a central role in shaping Labour's direction in the run-up to the election.
Softly spoken and serious, much of his work has taken place behind the scenes, though he is frequently relied on to reinforce the party line with appearances on the morning broadcast rounds.
Mr McFadden gives little away in interviews but is seen as a centre-left figure, having attended Gordon Brown's Cabinet and served as an advisor to Sir Tony.
Born in Glasgow to Irish-speaking parents from Donegal, his Labour roots go back past even the 1990s to his days as an undergraduate at Edinburgh University, where he was chair of Scottish Labour Students before working for Donald Dewar and later John Smith.
He was sacked from Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet for what the leadership branded 'disloyalty'. This was said to include criticism of Mr Corbyn's response to the 2015 Paris terror attacks and a Commons statement in which he called for a rejection of 'the view that sees terrorist acts as always being a response or a reaction to what we in the West do.'
Wes Streeting
From a family acquainted with the Kray twins to Labour's frontbench via Cambridge University, Wes Streeting's journey to frontline politics has been anything but ordinary.
A self-described 'geek' who wore his school badges with pride, he credits his parents and grandparents – one of whom was an armed robber, the other a Second World War veteran – with fostering his love of books, despite the strains of living in a cramped flat in London's East End.
One of Labour's most recognisable faces and never shy to attack the Tory record, Mr Streeting is seen as a confident media performer and has often been touted as a potential leadership contender.
He has been MP for Ilford North since 2015 and shadow health secretary since 2021, responsible for overseeing the party's mission to rebuild the NHS, including a pledge to create 40,000 new appointments each week.
David Lammy
Veteran MP David Lammy has risen through the party ranks over the course of a 23-year career in parliament.
One of five siblings raised by a single mother in Tottenham – the constituency he would go on to win in 2001 – Mr Lammy sung as a choirboy at Peterborough Cathedral before studying at SOAS University and later becoming the first black Briton to attend Harvard Law School, where he forged a friendship with Barack Obama.
He has spoken of the fear and embarrassment he felt when he was first stopped and searched at the age of just 12, and made his name in politics campaigning against racial injustice and the profiling of black and ethnic minority groups.
Having served as a junior health minister under Sir Tony, Mr Lammy supported Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership in 2015 before backing Sir Keir in 2020 and returning to the front bench as shadow justice secretary.
As shadow foreign secretary since 2021, he raised eyebrows earlier this year when he promised to find a 'common cause' with Donald Trump if the former president is returned to the White House, despite having previously called the Republican a 'neo-Nazi sympathiser.'
The position has seen him tread a fraught path over the war in Gaza, stressing Israel's right to self-defence but also saying that Labour would comply with an arrest warrant against the country's premier, Benjamin Netanyahu, if the international criminal court were to issue one – and criticising 'extremist rhetoric' from some Israeli ministers.
In government, it would put him at the helm of UK diplomacy during a time of increasing global instability – though Sir Keir has so far refused to be drawn on speculation that Mr Lammy may be replaced after the election.
Bridget Phillipson
At school in the deprived former mining town of Washington, Bridget Phillipson was a high-achiever with an interest in acting that landed her a role as an extra in Byker Grove before winning a place at Oxford University.
Aged just 26, she went on to become MP for Houghton and Sunderland South in 2010 after working for several years at the women's refuge her mother founded.
Ms Phillipson came from a struggling single-parent family but says she was far from the worst off in her class. Her upbringing has shaped her approach to the role of shadow education secretary, in which she has outlined Labour's mission to smash the 'class ceiling' by removing barriers to opportunity for less advantaged children.
To the disappointment of some on the Labour left, free school meals – of which Ms Phillipson was a recipient while growing up – did not feature in the party manifesto.
Instead, it commits to free school breakfast clubs to prevent children starting lessons hungry.
Ed Miliband
Dubbed 'Red Ed' by the tabloids during his time as Labour leader from 2010 to 2015, Ed Miliband nonetheless headed up a more moderate party than Mr Corbyn, who he called on to resign after the Leave result in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
In the run up to his May 2015 election defeat, Mr Miliband's public image was dogged by what were perceived to be embarrassing photos of him eating a bacon sandwich and the revelation he had two kitchens in his north London mansion.
Theresa May was later accused of making a number of his policies her own when she became Tory prime minister in 2017, opting to cap energy prices and abolish estate agent fees for renters.
His more recent guise as 'Green Ed' – running Labour's net zero policy – has seen him champion the pledge to create GB Energy, a publicly owned clean power company, and £23.7 billion in spending for green measures.
A setback came last year when Labour watered down its promise to spend £28 billion a year on sustainable energy projects – of which the shadow climate secretary was seen as a key proponent – blaming Tory stewardship of the economy.
The MP for Doncaster North denied having considered quitting over the move, which instead saw the party commit to £23.7 billion in spending over the next parliament, saying the new plans will still help to move the dial on the environment.
Liz Kendall
Shadow work and pensions secretary since a promotion in Sir Keir's 2023 reshuffle, Liz Kendall has been responsible for overseeing the party's mission to 'get Britain working again' following a rise in long-term sickness and inactivity.
She set out a tough stance on welfare in a speech earlier this year, during which she said there would be 'no option for a life on benefits' for people who can work under Labour and committed to 'investing' in young people.
As an ambitious shadow health minister, she was the first to declare her hand in the leadership contest won by Mr Corbyn in 2015, when she warned that Labour could stay out of power forever unless it moved towards the centre ground.
A former special adviser to Harriet Harman and then Patricia Hewitt – whose Leicester seat she inherited – she has previously described herself as an unlikely rap music fan, counting Eminem and Public Enemy among her favourites.
Anneliese Dodds
Ms Dodds worked her way up to the position of shadow chancellor by 2020 after winning the seat of Oxford East in the 2017 election.
But she was among the most high-profile casualities of Sir Keir's 2021 reshuffle, getting demoted to party chairwoman after some commentators argued she failed to cut through in her previous role during a period of increased government spending in the Covid pandemic.
Ms Dodds grew up in Aberdeenshire and worked as a lecturer in public policy before entering parliament, and has named Mr Brown – the economic architect of New Labour – as her political inspiration, citing his response to the 2008 financial crisis.
She has also served as shadow women and equalities secretary, a role which has seen her affirm Labour's commitment to 'trans people and women' and criticised the demonisation of vulnerable people, but also speak of 'places where it is reasonable for biological women only to have access' – words which were criticised by some in the LGBT community.
Shabana Mahmood
Former barrister Shabana Mahmood was named as Labour's shadow justice secretary last September after serving as national campaign coordinator since 2021.
One of the first Muslim women elected to the Commons, she won the seat of Birmingham Ladywood in 2010.
Ms Mahmood is seen as a key ally of fellow former lawyer Sir Keir and credited with playing a key part in preparing the party's campaign machine.
Born in Birmingham with a twin brother, she has said her childhood dream was to become a real-life version of ITV's 'Kavanagh QC' rather than a politician.
She told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast last year how outgoing Tory prime minister Rishi Sunak promised to vote for her as president of the junior common room during their university days – after she targeted him in canvassing because they were both 'firmly of the geek extraction.'
John Healey
A stalwart of Labour's frontbench, John Healey served in the Blair-Brown governments as well as the shadow cabinets of Mr Miliband and Mr Corbyn before becoming Sir Keir's shadow defence secretary.
His parliamentary career has seen him back the invasion of Iraq and more recently criticise the Tory government's reduction in the size of the army to 72,500 by 2025.
But a question mark still hangs over how Labour would oversee the defence budget, with the party having pledged to reach a spending target of 2.5% only when 'economic conditions allow'.
Jonathan Reynolds
Alongside Ms Reeves, shadow trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds has been at the forefront of Labour's efforts to redraw its relationship the City.
Elected MP for Stalybridge and Hyde in 2010, he resigned as a shadow minister under Mr Corbyn and went on to criticise the leadership's economic policy.
As chair of Christians on the Left, Mr Reynolds has described his faith as hugely important to his politics. In 2013 he told the Commons he would vote for equal marriage 'because I am a Christian, not in spite of it'.
Born in Houghton-le-Spring, he studied law at Manchester University before entering parliament at the age of 28.
Peter Kyle
MP for Hove Peter Kyle has served as shadow technology secretary since a reshuffle last year.
Mr Kyle struggled with dyslexia growing up and has spoken of leaving school without many qualifications before being told at university that he had a reading age of eight – though he overcame this to gain a doctoral degree.
He was an aid worker in the Balkans before becoming a Blair-era special advisor focused on social exclusion policy. In parliament he has campaigned for the voting age to be lowered to 16 and was a vocal critic of Mr Corbyn's leadership before serving in various positions in Sir Keir's shadow cabinet.
Louise Haigh
As Labour's transport secretary, Louise Haigh would be in charge of party plans to renationalise most rail services, with a new public body would inherit existing contracts when they expire.
The MP for Sheffield Heeley survived Sir Keir's 2023 reshuffle, which saw a host of Blairite figures promoted or ushered in to the shadow cabinet, despite being regarded as a standard-bearer of the soft left of the party.
She cut her teeth as a shop steward for the union Unite and volunteered as a special constable in the Metropolitan Police before entering politics.
Steve Reed
Steve Reed won the seat of Croydon North in a 2012 by-election and served as shadow justice secretary from 2021 until he was moved to the environment brief last year.
Growing up in the quiet commuter town of St Albans, his entire family worked at a printing factory, which he describes as the heart of his community until it was shut down in the 1980s.
He joined the Labour Party soon after its closure, blaming Margaret Thatcher's government for its fate during an economic recession.
Hilary Benn
Best known in the earlier stages of his career as the son of Tony Benn – the long-serving Cabinet minister, anti-war campaigner and pivotal figure on the Labour left – Mr Benn has not inherited all of his father's beliefs.
During the 1999 contest for the Leeds Central seat that he would go on to represent for decades to come, Mr Benn described himself as a 'Benn, but not a Bennite.'
Like his father, he is teetotal and vegetarian. Unlike his father, Mr Benn supported the Iraq war while serving in Sir Tony Blair's government and later defied then-leader Jeremy Corbyn, while his shadow foreign secretary, to back military action against the Islamic State in Syria.
He has served as shadow Northern Ireland secretary since 2023, an appointment that was welcomed by Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie as 'an indication of the importance (Sir Keir) places on Northern Ireland'.
Jo Stevens
Jo Stevens has been shadow Wales secretary since 2021 and MP for Cardiff Central since 2015. Before her parliamentary career, she was a lawyer at Thompsons Solicitors – a firm with longstanding links to the trade union movement.
Ms Stevens has opposed the devolution of justice powers which has sometimes put her at odds with the Welsh Labour administration in the past. She has suggested problems with crime are too urgent for the Westminster government to embark on an overhaul of the structures in place.
Ian Murray
Ian Murray was shadow Scotland secretary since 2020 and represented Edinburgh South since 2010, becoming the only Scottish Labour MP in Westminster for the second time after the party's 2019 general election defeat.
A critic of former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mr Murray has campaigned against Scottish independence and won the backing of Sir Tony and Mr Brown during an unsuccessful bid for the Labour deputy leadership in 2020.
Lucy Powell
Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell has held a number of positions in Sir Keir's top team, most recently as shadow leader of the Commons.
She became known in the last parliament for her colourful sparring matches with Penny Mordaunt, who once accused her of 'channelling Elmer Fudd' after she noted the lack of any rabbit-out-of-hat surprise policies in the 2024 spring Budget.
Baroness Smith
Baroness Smith entered the Lords in 2010 after holding a number of ministerial positions but losing her bellwether seat of Basildon when the Tories swept to power.
She has served as shadow leader of the upper chamber since 2015.
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