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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Andrew Hindmoor

Starmer’s Labour has one vital strength: a shadow cabinet with real government experience

From left, Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves at the launch of the Labour party's manifesto, Manchester, 13 June 2024.
From left, Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves at the launch of the Labour party's manifesto, Manchester, 13 June 2024. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

In the middle of an election campaign that Labour looks likely to win, how many of the shadow cabinet could you name? It currently has 31 members, but few are household names – beyond their own household. If you could make it to double figures you would be doing well.

Yet the surprising fact is that this is one of the most experienced shadow cabinets in recent political history. Keir Starmer only became an MP in 2015, but Yvette Cooper, Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband, alongside five other junior shadow ministers, were cabinet ministers in the last Labour government.

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