Shabana Mahmood has proved to be one of this government’s few outstanding ministerial successes. In a cabinet remarkably short of effective communicators, she has been plain-spoken and seems more sensitive to public opinion than many of her colleagues.
As Labour’s poll ratings sink, so she has grown more combative, and enjoyed rapid promotion. She wants to be seen as a “reformer at the Home Office” and has already initiated changes to the immigration system, which is obviously a matter of major public concern.
