Angela Rayner handed new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles top team

Angela Rayner has been appointed shadiness levelling up secretary, successful a wide-ranging reshuffle by Sir Keir Starmer of his Labour team.

She replaces Lisa Nandy, who is demoted to go the party's caller shadiness curate for planetary development.

Ms Rayner volition stay the party's lawman person and volition besides instrumentality connected the caller relation of shadiness lawman premier minister.

Sir Keir's reshaping of his apical squad comes arsenic MPs instrumentality from summertime recess.

The long-awaited refresh did not spot changes to the astir elder shadiness furniture ranks, including shadiness chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadiness location caput Yvette Cooper.

But determination person been a bid of changes to much middle-ranking roles, arsenic the Labour person promoted allies to fortify his presumption up of a wide predetermination expected adjacent year.

The changes besides mean Labour's beforehand seat much intimately mirrors ministerial roles created by a government reorganisation earlier this year.

Notable appointments see Hilary Benn, a furniture curate nether erstwhile Labour PMs Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, who becomes shadiness Northern Ireland secretary.

The Leeds Central MP has held respective beforehand seat roles before, but has not sat successful the shadiness furniture since being sacked by Jeremy Corbyn for rebelling against his leadership.

Liz Kendall, a defeated campaigner successful the 2015 enactment contest, becomes shadiness enactment and pensions secretary, her astir elder shadiness furniture relation successful her vocation truthful far.

She replaces Jonathan Ashworth, who takes connected a relation shadowing the Cabinet Office. Labour sources importune helium volition inactive person a cardinal relation successful predetermination campaigning.

Pat McFadden, who was Sir Tony's governmental secretary, moves from his shadiness Treasury relation to go nationalist run coordinator. He volition besides shadiness the Cabinet Office.

Ms Rayner already stands successful for Sir Keir astatine Prime Minister's Questions erstwhile either Sir Keir oregon Mr Sunak is away, a relation successful which she usually spars with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden.

But her caller relation present means she volition besides shadiness Michael Gove, who is tasked with "levelling up" - a Tory run operation that describes policies aiming to trim determination inequality.

His section is besides liable for section authorities and housing, expected to beryllium an important absorption for some parties astatine the election.

In a station connected X, formerly Twitter, she confirmed she would besides beryllium the party's "strategic lead" connected its bundle of employment rights reforms, for which she was antecedently liable arsenic shadiness caput of authorities for the aboriginal of work.

She paid tribute to her predecessor Ms Nandy, adding she had served with "grit, imaginativeness and determination".

There were besides changes to bespeak changes to authorities departments made earlier this twelvemonth by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

In a promotion, Peter Kyle has been moved from the Northern Ireland little to a caller relation shadowing the government's combined subject and exertion department.

Thangam Debbonaire moves from shadiness Commons person to go the caller shadiness caput of authorities for culture, media and sport.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, whose planetary commercialized little was merged with the concern department, has been handed a much inferior relation shadowing the Cabinet Office.

Oversight of commercialized argumentation volition spell to shadiness concern caput Jonathan Reynolds, besides reflecting different departmental merger.

The appointments were conducted without the wrangling that characterised a reshuffle pursuing the 2021 section elections, erstwhile Ms Rayner emerged with a trio of shadiness furniture jobs aft hours of talks with Sir Keir.

But successful a missive marking her exit from the shadiness cabinet, Rosena Allin-Khan pointedly remarked that Sir Keir did "not spot a space" for her circumstantial shadiness furniture relation with work for intelligence wellness policy.