Starmer-Rayner briefing war allegedly erupts over Labour reshuffle
A briefing war has apparently erupted between the offices of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and deputy leader Angela Rayner over to what extent the latter was informed about the ongoing shadow cabinet reshuffle.
LabourList reported that the reshuffle was possibly underway late this morning, at the same time as Ms Rayner was giving a speech to the Institute for Government on how the party planned to overhaul rules on sleaze and “rebuild trust in public life”.
Several prominent political journalists have issued the following claims on the ongoing story.
Starmer's office accuse Rayner's team of leaking and briefing against the leader
The deputy leader's team accuse his office of isolating her.
But not alerting Rayner earlier to a reshuffle is clumsy when the pair were working together better(at least in public) in recent weeks.
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) November 29, 2021
What did Angela Rayner know?
… that a second reshuffle was coming for months
… it was imminent but didn't know exactly when
… any of the detail of who gets which jobs.So not entirely out of loop – but not entirely in. And reshuffle kicks off during her big speech.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) November 29, 2021
Conflicting accounts now on what Rayner was told.
Several Labour sources claiming she was told this morning about the reshuffle and she had been pushing for a change for months.
Others closer to Rayner say she was alerted but not given any details. https://t.co/HBll5ZwnIP
— Harry Yorke (@HarryYorke1) November 29, 2021
Rayner vs Starmer briefing war in full flow now…
Shadow Cabinet source: "This is all very curious. Angela has been telling us she would sort a reshuffle for months and that Keir couldn't do it without her. And now it happens she's saying she knew nothing about it."
— Rachel Wearmouth (@REWearmouth) November 29, 2021