Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will carry out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet team on Sunday according to reports.
The Opposition leader will look to reshape his top team further across the weekend as he looks to reverse the party’s downward spiral in England.
The Press Association reports that further changes are expected to be announced following the sacking of Angela Rayner as national campaign coordinator.
As well as undertaking a reshuffle, the former director of public prosecutions has also hired Gordon Brown’s former chief pollster Deborah Mattinson – who has written a book about why Labour lost the so-called “red wall” at the 2019 general election – as director of strategy.
READ MORE: Michael Settle: Sir Keir Starmer now faces a major rethink and reset
Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the decision was a “huge mistake” by leader Sir Keir Starmer.
He told BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I haven’t spoken to Angie. And let me be clear, I don’t have any brief for Angie – I didn’t support her as deputy leader, I supported Richard Burgon.
“When the leader of the party on Friday said he takes responsibility for the election result in Hartlepool in particular and then scapegoats Angela Rayner, I think many of us feel that is unfair, particularly as we all know actually that Keir’s style of leadership is that his office controls everything.
READ MORE: Angela Rayner sacked as Labour party chairman
“It is very centralised and he controlled the campaign, so many of us think it is really unfair.
“What public relations genius thought this was a good move on the very day, actually, we were having successes – Andy Burnham in Manchester, Steve Rotheram in Liverpool, Paul Dennett in Salford, Marvin down in Bristol, Sadiq in London.
“The very day we’re recovering a bit and having successes, then they do this. I just think it is a huge mistake.”
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