New Times,
New Thinking.

  1. Politics
11 October 2010updated 27 Sep 2015 2:11am

Lammy rejects junior ministerial role

Former minister David Lammy turned down Ed Miliband's offer to serve in the shadow cabinet.

By Caroline Crampton

On announcing the full line-up of his shadow cabinet, Ed Miliband expressed his pride he had been able to “bring in a new generation of talent, whilst also using the experience of a broad range of Labour MPs.” He went on to say:

“This is a team from all parts of the party, which will robustly hold the coalition government to account.”

However, according to a source at Labour HQ, at least one MP wasn’t so keen to be part of the team. Ed reportedly made a call to David Lammy to offer him a junior role, but Lammy turned him down in favour of remaining on the backbenches.

Lammy ran a concerted campaign to make it into the shadow cabinet itself, but fell short of the top 19 by some way, receiving 80 votes. With eight years of ministerial experience, he had been widely tipped to come to the fore in opposition, perhaps in work and pensions or local government.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how Progressive Media Investments may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

His failure to make it to the top of the ballot will have been a disappointment, but the decision to reject the offer of a junior role is a shrewd one, and not one that can just be explained by the fact that he endorsed David for the leadership. Lammy has enough of a profile to remain a prominent player over the coming months without needing the media traction provided by a minor shadow cabinet title.

Lammy may well not have been the only one to give Ed the brush-off. Former culture minister Ben Bradshaw and former business secretary Pat McFadden are also notably absent from the full line-up, having failed, like Lammy, to attract enough support to get senior positions.

It’s also likely that Lammy is biding his time, banking on the fact that this is just the first shadow cabinet of many that lie between Labour and re-election, and that he is likely to get a better offer next time. Given his support for David over Ed, he could also be looking forward to a time when a different leader will be making the phone calls.

Content from our partners
An energy skills boost can power UK growth
Homes for all: how can Labour shape the future of UK housing?
The UK’s skills shortfall is undermining growth