Labour Frontbench Appointments Announced By Jeremy Corbyn

Labour Frontbench Appointments Announced By Jeremy Corbyn

Jeremy Corbyn has announced 20 appointments to Labour's frontbench in the House of Commons, including nine who had previously resigned positions in his shadow team.

Three MPs elected to the Commons for the first time in last month's General Election were also among the appointments, as well as four who returned to Westminster in June having departed at earlier elections.

Mr Corbyn said the appointment of "a wealth of talent" to roles outside the shadow cabinet was "further evidence that Labour is not just the opposition - we are the government in waiting".

But Tories said the changes were a sign of "chaos" within Labour.

Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero, Makerfield MP Yvonne Fovargue and Great Grimsby's Melanie Onn return to the frontbench a year after joining the mass resignation of shadow ministers in the wake of the EU referendum in June 2016.

Ms De Piero, who last year told Mr Corbyn she was quitting because she did not believe he could deliver victory, takes a post in the justice team, while Ms Onn becomes a housing spokeswoman and Ms Fovargue local government.

Holly Lynch (Halifax) takes an environment brief less than a year after resigning as an opposition whip in protest at the sacking of Rosie Winterton as chief whip while Rachael Maskell (York Central) joins the transport team five months after quitting the frontbench to defy a three-line whip and vote against the invocation of Article 50 to take Britain out of the EU.

There were also jobs for Nick Thomas-Symonds, Louise Haigh, Roberta Blackman-Woods and Karl Turner, who took part in the mass resignation of June 2016 but returned to the frontbench later that year after Mr Corbyn's re-election as leader.

New MPs joining the frontbench less than a month after their arrival in the Commons were Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North-East), Afzal Khan (Manchester Gorton) and Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East).

Left-wingers David Drew and Chris Williamson, who lost their seats at earlier elections before returning to the Commons last month, were fast-tracked back on to the frontbenches.

There were also slots in the shadow team for Chris Ruane, returning as Vale of Clwyd MP after two years away, and Tony Lloyd, who was a minister under Tony Blair and chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party before quitting Parliament in 2012 to run for Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, and is now MP for Rochdale.

Former Coronation Street actress Tracy Brabin, who won Batley and Spen in the by-election forced by Jo Cox's murder last year, and retained it in the 2017 election, takes up her first frontbench post in the education team.

Labour said further appointments would be made "in due course".

Conservative MP Luke Hall said: "This reshuffle was forced on Jeremy Corbyn because of the chaos within the Labour Party which saw 49 of his own MPs defy him over Brexit.

"Labour are so divided that Corbyn is resorting to appointing a string of 'has-beens' who have previously resigned or been sacked from his frontbench. The rest have only been in parliament for a few weeks."

The full list of appointments is as follows:

Environment, food and rural affairs:

David Drew (Stroud)

Holly Lynch (Halifax)

Home Affairs:

Nick Thomas-Symonds (Torfaen)

Chris Williamson (Derby North)

Afzal Khan (Manchester Gorton)

Louise Haigh (Sheffield Heeley)

Scotland:

Paul Sweeney (Glasgow North East)

Justice:

Gloria De Piero (Ashfield)

Imran Hussain (Bradford East)

International Development:

Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham)

Transport:

Rachael Maskell (York Central)

Karl Turner (Hull East)

Treasury:

Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East)

Housing:

Tony Lloyd (Rochdale)

Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby)

Women and equalities:

Carolyn Harris (Swansea East)

Defence:

Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney)

Local Government:

Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield)

Education:

Tracy Brabin (Batley and Spen)

Wales:

Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd)

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