Labour party in fresh row over shadow cabinet reshuffle

Jeremy Corbyn reshuffled his front bench team following the party conference. Credit: Danny Lawson/ PA Wire

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is facing a fresh round of bitter in-fighting after reshuffling his shadow cabinet.

Chairman of the parliamentary party, John Cryer, strongly criticised the timing of the top level shake-up.

In an angry letter to MPs, Mr Cryer said he and sacked chief whip Rosie Winterton had been kept in the dark about the major transformation of Labour's front bench, despite being engaged in talks with the leadership on having some of the places put up for election.

Critics accused Mr Corbyn of engaging in a 'revenge reshuffle'. Credit: Stefan Rousseau/ PA Wire

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn insisted that he was ready to continue talks with the new chief whip.

"Shadow cabinet elections will be considered by Labour's national executive committee as part of a wider party democratisation at a special meeting next month," the spokesman said.

Mr Corbyn completed his reshaping of Labour's front bench on Friday by appointing his deputy Tom Watson, with whom he has had a tension-filled relationship, as shadow culture secretary.