How anonymous is Labour’s shadow cabinet really?

Keir Starmer is encouraging his top team to give a series of big speeches, after some unkind commentary about how underwhelming his shadow cabinet is. Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, delivered the Mais lecture – a big-ticket annual City event – last month. Rachel Reeves, shadow Cabinet Office minister and Michael Gove’s opposite number, gave a long speech last week criticising the government for cronyism. Further contributions are planned soon from Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, and Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary. 

But is it fair to say that Labour’s shadow government is led by unknowns? Up to a point. Starmer may be the most popular Labour politician, enjoying a rare net positive rating, but he is not the most famous. More people say they “have heard of” Jeremy Corbyn and Tony Blair than of Starmer. According to YouGov figures collected between October and December last year, the current Labour leader is not even the best known politician in the shadow cabinet, as 95 per cent of people say they have heard of Ed Miliband, shadow business secretary, and only 84 per cent say they have heard of Starmer. 

After those two, there is a long drop to the next most famous members of the shadow cabinet, David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary (49 per cent of people say they have heard of him), and Emily Thornberry, shadow international trade secretary (47 per cent). They have the advantage of having been MPs for longer than many of their colleagues, having been elected in 2000 (a by-election) and 2005 respectively. 

Many of the most prominent posts in the shadow cabinet are held by MPs who are less well known. Only 41 per cent say they have heard of Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader. Of the big speechmakers, Ashworth scores 39 per cent; Dodds 34 per cent; Reeves 30 per cent; and Thomas-Symonds 20 per cent. 

When Starmer appointed his shadow cabinet last year, he tilted the selection deliberately in favour of fresh faces, many of whom had entered the House of Commons only recently. Thomas-Symonds was first elected in 2015, at the same time as Starmer himself, and Dodds became an MP in 2017. 

This helped put some distance between the new leadership and the Corbyn period, although it turned out that the coronavirus crisis did that most effectively. And it was the crisis that made it so hard for Starmer’s new team to make their mark. The shadow ministers found themselves trapped in the same dilemma as their leader, of being constrained in their criticisms of the government during a national crisis. Yet even Kate Green, the shadow education secretary who has called for the resignation of Gavin Williamson, her opposite number, has not raised her profile much as a result (and nor has she forced his resignation). 

As the lockdown eases next month, it will be interesting to see whether moving politics off Zoom and back into the real world will allow some of Starmer’s shadow ministers to shine – and if so, which ones.