Shadow Cabinet Reshuffle

MaizieD

If Labour doesn't rearrange a few deckchairs soon they will sink with the tories...

I fear you are right MaizieD though it's perhaps not so much the deckchairs needing shuffling but some better political judgment and a capacity to create a narrative appealing to the electorate. If not then Farage will enter No. 10, possibly in coalition.

Nigel Farage appeals because he tells the public what they want to hear. He is addressing their prime concerns, immigration, rising debt, increase in welfare spending, and 'wokery', interpret that how you will. He is also a demagogue, able to stir the crowd up , but unlikely to be able to deliver on his promises.

This is the malaise that affected the Tories, and Labour are now experiencing the same difficulty; they cannot deliver what they promised because they created false expectations.

Creating a narrative appealing to the electorate is what Farage is doing; Labour needs to deliver results and at present Wes Streeting appears to be the only Minister who has a grasp on this. What support he will receive as he struggles with the BMA remains to be seen.

I agree with Lizzie (and Kevin McGuire’s analysis), and also that Starmer needs to have a much better Comms team in place. Their PR has been atrocious from the start, whilst populist charlatans like Farage use slogans that are latched onto by the hard of thinking who don’t seem to notice that he never tells us how he will achieve his promises.

It’s frightening. It’s no secret that I don’t share the Tory political philosophy, but at least I know what it is, and understand that if more people are more interested in individual prosperity than collective security then democracy dictates that that’s the way we will be governed.

I have yet to meet anyone who can begin to explain what Reform stands for (outside of the facile ‘stop the boats’) and can give even a tenuous explanation of how they will achieve it. Whatever ‘it’ might be.

An Alistair Campbell type figure - or even Alistair Campbell himself would do wonders for spreading information on what Labour has done in the last year. And they have done a fair bit as listed by Lizzie earlier.

eazybee

Nigel Farage appeals because he tells the public what they want to hear. He is addressing their prime concerns, immigration, rising debt, increase in welfare spending, and 'wokery', interpret that how you will. He is also a demagogue, able to stir the crowd up , but unlikely to be able to deliver on his promises.

This is the malaise that affected the Tories, and Labour are now experiencing the same difficulty; they cannot deliver what they promised because they created false expectations.

Creating a narrative appealing to the electorate is what Farage is doing; Labour needs to deliver results and at present Wes Streeting appears to be the only Minister who has a grasp on this. What support he will receive as he struggles with the BMA remains to be seen.

Your first sentence is spot on eazybee. Farage lies. People who are looking for easy answers and who don’t want to face the parlous state the UK has got itself into and what needs to be done to sort it out, which will inevitably be painful for us all, buy into his lies.

Farage, as eazybee said, tells the public what it wants to hear. I laughed out loud when I heard him state Reform would reduce crime by 50%, sentence people who have committed three serious offences to life imprisonment and of course, stop the boats. It was like Arabian Nights, tell three fantastical stories each morning.

Yes the government is doing some excellent work. Its comms continue to be dreadful - why?

Alistair Campbell?
Alistair Campbell would do wonders for spreading information. ??

Certainly good at spreading information but how could you possibly trust him?

It's weird how some people are not always able to join the dots.
Reform would reduce crime. Good plan, but how does he propose to do that, when a significant number of Reform folk already have their own criminal convictions?

Communication is where I’m really frustrated with Labour.

Kevin Maguire’s list of their year one achievements is impressive … and true. It’s not populist claptrap! Yet how many ordinary people can name even a few of the achievements on that list?

I’m a member of the LP and, as such, receive regular emails about what’s going on. However, they’re preaching to the converted. They need to communicate with everyone! They need to be proactive with their messaging.

If I was their comms advisor, on the anniversary of their first year in office, I’d have billboards and adverts plastered with the words of Maguire’s article e.g. “Imagine if we had a government that … All these have been achieved in Year One of Labour”.

Yes, the media would criticise it but so what! Starmer needs to stop caring about what the media says, and just accept that they hate Labour. Ignore the media! Be brave! Lead your own narrative!

Everyone in this country should be celebrating the fact that 500,000 more children are receiving free school meals. Does anyone know🤷‍♀️

Shout about it from the rooftops Labour📣📣📣

Is there any extra money for the free school meals or is it coming out of the existing school budget?

What do you mean by Reform folk?

Dorisdodar

Is there any extra money for the free school meals or is it coming out of the existing school budget?

The DFE has set aside £1bn to fund the change until 2029.

Thanks Mamie.

You bet me to it - I was just about to post the very same

I don’t know who it is but my partner ( who tells me what’s happening news wise given that I can’t watch or listen to the news these days; it’s all too horrible) said that Labour had taken on someone to help with communication.

Matthew Doyle, who was the Downing Street Director of Communications, stepped down in March 2025 (I wonder why???)

Not sure who has replaced him.

Hopefully they’ve got someone creative, intelligent, brave & proactive!

Alistair Campbell or anyone similar would be a disaster, it is rare to listen to someone as out of touch as he is.

I think the electorate is more concerned about all the errors and u-turns this government has made in the last year which are affecting their day to day lives, rather than its achievements.

Frequently when being interviewed, government ministers cite the 35,000 illegal immigrants that have been deported in the last year. We often see footage of those arriving on the small boats, if these numbers are correct, wouldn't it be a boost to the Government's credibility if these deportations were also shown on the news/social media. Is their PR team missing a trick?

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Sorry, posted too soon, I mean Reform politicians, who you can find on google who have been implicated and/or convicted of a variety of offences.
My apolgies.

Galaxy

Alistair Campbell or anyone similar would be a disaster, it is rare to listen to someone as out of touch as he is.

Have you listened to this weeks The Rest is Politics Galaxy? I thought the discussion about AI did not sound like someone who is out of touch?

sundowngirl

I think the electorate is more concerned about all the errors and u-turns this government has made in the last year which are affecting their day to day lives, rather than its achievements.

Frequently when being interviewed, government ministers cite the 35,000 illegal immigrants that have been deported in the last year. We often see footage of those arriving on the small boats, if these numbers are correct, wouldn't it be a boost to the Government's credibility if these deportations were also shown on the news/social media. Is their PR team missing a trick?

Not everyone is as concerned about immigration as the media would have us believe.

Of course we see endless footage of small boats; of course people know more about so-called ‘u turns’ than achievements - that’s what the media pumps out. It’s part of the right wing media propaganda machine - main stream and social.

As I’ve said previously, the UK media will never celebrate the achievements of a Labour government. So, Labour need to take control of their own narrative!

I’ve seen some effective advertising about the effect of economic decisions on different industries on YouTube recently, so I think it is starting to happen.

LizzieDrip

sundowngirl

I think the electorate is more concerned about all the errors and u-turns this government has made in the last year which are affecting their day to day lives, rather than its achievements.

Frequently when being interviewed, government ministers cite the 35,000 illegal immigrants that have been deported in the last year. We often see footage of those arriving on the small boats, if these numbers are correct, wouldn't it be a boost to the Government's credibility if these deportations were also shown on the news/social media. Is their PR team missing a trick?

Not everyone is as concerned about immigration as the media would have us believe.

Of course we see endless footage of small boats; of course people know more about so-called ‘u turns’ than achievements - that’s what the media pumps out. It’s part of the right wing media propaganda machine - main stream and social.

As I’ve said previously, the UK media will never celebrate the achievements of a Labour government. So, Labour need to take control of their own narrative!

I think you will find that more and more people are becoming concerned about immigration as the numbers grow at an alarming rate. It may not affect you yet, but it will if this government doesn't take action instead of tinkering around the edges.

Maybe the media doesn't celebrate the achievements of the Labour government because they pale into insignificance against their number of failures and u-turns

We have the best government we have had in many years

Maybe the media doesn't celebrate the achievements of the Labour government because they pale into insignificance against their number of failures and u-turns.

They need to be more proactive in saying what they have done and if it is working. I used to wish there was an Ofsted for Parliament.
What’s happening now is just like Ofsted.
A school can have achieved a lot or improved in many areas that were highlighted as needing improvement, but Ofsted highlights things where they don’t think the school has achieved.

Welcome to the real world MPs.