Andy Burnham's new cabinet - who's in, who's out.

[Twiglets1]

John Healey, who quit as Keir Starmer's defence secretary last month, has been pictured walking up Downing Street - is he about to be reinstated as Defence Secretary, I wonder.

Ed Miliband and Shabana Mahmood also photographed walking up Downing Street together - but we still don't which positions they will be given in Cabinet.

Rumour is she was offered defense, knowing she would refuse as she’s the one who took the money from it,

Is Reeves likely to quit as an MP too? She leads my brother’s constituency and they loathe her up there - she is in fact banned from several bars, restaurants and shops!

At this stage, I’m assuming the people still in there are just having a bit of a party.

The thing is, no-one actually cares - this will be a tiny pointillist dot in the big picture for everyone except shit-stirrers and the Mail.

As an individual I'm incredibly impressed by the combo of excellent communication skills - a vision, if you want to call it that - plus appointments into key roles that signal solidity, and the 'keeping your successors and enemies onside' dance that is key to him not having to call an election and the success of the whole project. First time I've felt hopeful for a long time - and importantly, that's regardless of the fact that I think he's failing to address some of our key challenges (AI, re-industrialisation of what exactly).

I speak as someone who fundamentally believes that we're fucked, and that Corbyn and his brand of left-liberalism is a beard for global capitalism which will never stop predating, and that the only real solution is a revolution ;-) but also as a realist whose other foot dances the centrist dance.... Yes, it's hard being me.

Loathe her? Surely they voted her in….

On behalf of pensioners everywhere, she well and truly deserves it. Vile woman. Hope she loses her seat if she tries to run again.

With a majority of over 12000 too.

Ah, to explain, there was a boundary change merging a long term Conservative ward with a die hard Labour one. That’s how she got in. She’s barely shown her face since as too busy in London. She got booed last time she turned up, there’s a lot of ill feeling.

Streeting for Defence

Still no news on Deputy PM?

Maybe he’s not going to have one? I wondered if Louise Haigh would fill the equivalent position with all her various roles. It seems strange not to have announced it yet though.

I never thought about him not appointing one. Healey or Mahmood would have been safe hands.

Oh dear, the second choice there then.

Not necessarily. He probably offered Defence to Reeves knowing she'd in all likelihood say no.

Stephen Kinnock gets Welsh Dec (yey), Douglas Alexander remains as Scottish Dec. Ellie (sister of) Reeves gets Attorney General.

I've thought a lot about this since Starmer withdrew support.
Does this incident really mean someone should never be able to hold a position?

Being convicted of fraud would preclude you from many jobs, mine for one (private sector).
You’d maybe also have to declare it on visa applications for example for the USA and it might be held against you.

I don’t know why we would hold MPs to a lower standard than other job requirements.

The thing is, some of us pragmatic realists do care.

"Let's build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose, and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again, the moment we bring back hope."

I agree with the principle. But trust is earned.

In all honesty, the whole thing feels a bit like Monty Python meets The Emperor's New Clothes. "And now for something completely different"... except it all feels awfully familiar: political manoeuvering, a constituency seat that miraculously appeared, after the one that was then wasn't, a leadership contest settled behind closed doors with no competition - I am not buying that Wes Streeting resigned before he had promises of backing. Disingenuous and contradictory messaging, the divisive North v South rhetoric whipping up regional tensions, followed by what we are now supposed to believe is a desire of for national unity. High-profile appointments, "nobody mention the war," Second homes or mobile phones. Rather ironic after years of condemning Tory sleaze. But it's all going to be different... well, later in the year, apparently.

Businesses, investors and the public are expected to put their plans on hold or make defensive decisions whilst waiting to see what happens next. Especially when many are worried about whether they will be able to afford the "room for movement on tax" Andy has in mind. If this is to be the moment Britain "starts to believe again", then people need to see clear evidence that politics really is being done differently. IMO, if there was time to tell people there was room for movement on tax, then there was also time to say that tackling waste would be a priority. But I guess the backbenchers are still the tail wagging the dog, even in this brave new world where so much was supposed to have changed.

The bar should be higher for Cabinet positions. There are plenty of other senior roles across the public sector for those people.

I would imagine Rachel Reeves has quit because of the vitriol she has suffered from the press (as also shown on here - vile woman/banned from pubs etc). She has had such awful things said and written about her just because she is a woman - no man would ever have headlines like 'John from accounts' and have their previous roles belittled.
Same goes for Angela Rayner, Lisa Nandy etc and how they dress - X and the media have already started on Burnham's wife.

Being a woman in politics appears to mean that you should accept inequality and sexism!

Reeves will never live down the jobs tax and the WFP hit on pensioners. Two massive own goals.

‘Rachel from Accounts’ was actually very funny though.
Raynor, Nandy are abrasive, loud, and easy to dislike.

Getting the top jobs should be about ambition to improve the country, not ambition to be adored.

I’m very disappointed in these two appointments. It would have been an ideal opportunity to showcase a government without sleeze.
AR returning to housing when she can’t get her own house in order is really poor optics .

I was fully expecting these appointments and also Midgley and Fahnbulleh as they have been working so long on getting Burnham in. They were bound to be rewarded. Haigh said how they took an AirBNB in Makerfield for a month and put everything into the campaign.

Taking power by orchestrated stealth thanks to these women.

That’s not why Rachel reeves quit, your imagination has gone hay wire, Rachel reeves quit as she didn’t want the demotion which she was offered.