Elections 2021: Sir Keir Starmer set to reshuffle Labour’s top team

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is to carry out a reshuffle of his frontbench team later following the party’s poor performance in English local elections, the BBC understands.

He is facing criticism following defeat in the Hartlepool by-election and losing control of several councils.

Sir Keir has already sacked his deputy Angela Rayner as Labour’s chair and campaigns co-ordinator.

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said she had been made a “scapegoat”.

But Sir Keir has said he takes “full responsibility” for Labour’s election results in England.

Thursday’s elections marked the first test of voter opinion since he became party leader last year.

With a few results to come in, Labour has lost control of seven councils.

There was bad news for Sir Keir on Saturday night, when a swing to the Conservatives in County Durham saw Labour lose overall control of the council for the first time since 1925.

This followed the loss of Hartlepool – held by Labour since the constituency was created in 1974 – to the Conservatives.

It’s no surprise that Sir Keir Starmer will be reshuffling his shadow cabinet.

But after a largely negative reaction to news that Angela Rayner was to lose her campaigning role, the task became urgent.

Sources say she will now be offered a “frontline” shadow cabinet role. That may calm concerns of some on the left of the party that Ms Rayner was being marginalised – and that the party leadership was tacking right.

Reshuffles can strengthen leaders, but sometimes they do the opposite.

Sir Keir will want to reward “rising stars” with good media profiles such as shadow schools minister Wes Streeting.

But can he also bolster his team by bringing in “big beasts” such as Yvette Cooper and Hilary Benn?

And will those facing demotion go quietly and accept other roles in the name of unity?

Westminster is awash with speculation that Jon Ashworth could be moved from his shadow health secretary role, and that Anneliese Dodds could be moved from her role shadowing Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

And there seems to be a view that shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy would be better suited to a domestic portfolio.

But there was some better news for Sir Keir when the party retained the mayoralties of London, Liverpool and Greater Manchester – the results being announced on Saturday.

Sir Keir removed Ms Rayner from her election duties on the same day, with a source saying she would “continue to play a senior role” in the leader’s team.

But Mr McDonnell told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show Sir Keir had “scapegoated Angela Rayner”, adding that the leader’s style of running Labour was “very centralised” and that he had “controlled” the election campaign.

Mr McDonnell also asked what “PR genius” had decided to remove Ms Rayner’s campaigning role on Saturday, when there had been some “good news” with the mayoral victories.

Sir Keir has been criticised for picking a frontbench team lacking in well-known figures, with suggestions that senior MPs such as Yvette Cooper and Hilary Been could make a return in the reshuffle.

He took over as leader last year following Labour’s worst general election defeat since the 1930s and has said the party has a “mountain to climb” if it wants to get back into government.