Who is in Sir Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet?

New Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has announced the first members of his shadow cabinet.

He said: "I’m proud to have appointed a Shadow Cabinet that showcases the breadth, depth and talents of the Labour Party.

"This is a new team that will be relentlessly focused on acting in the national interest to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and rebuilding Labour so that it can win the next election."

Here are profiles of some of the appointees.

Lisa Nandy, Shadow Foreign Secretary

Lisa Nandy has been handed one of the biggest and most important roles in Sir Keir’s shadow cabinet – that of shadow foreign secretary.

It comes after she came last in the final run-off for the Labour leadership, following a campaign in which she impressed many with her handling of big interviews.

Lisa Nandy previously worked for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint. Credit: PA

The Wigan MP comes from political stock, with her maternal grandfather having been a Liberal MP while her father, Dipak Nandy, is a Marxist racial equalities campaigner.

Before her election in 2010, Ms Nandy worked for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint and The Children’s Society.

Having founded the Centre For Towns think tank, the 40-year-old has been outspoken about the need to win back Labour’s former industrial heartlands where voters switched in their droves to the Conservatives at the last election.

Ed Miliband, Shadow Business and Energy Secretary

Ed Miliband is back on the Labour frontbench. Credit: PA

Ed Miliband will return to the Labour frontbench under Sir Keir Starmer as the new leader revealed an overhauled shadow cabinet that includes his former leadership rivals.

Mr Miliband, who was succeeded by Jeremy Corbyn after leading the party to electoral defeat, was named as the new shadow business secretary on Monday.

Mr Miliband led a more moderate party than his immediate successor Mr Corbyn, who guided Labour to its worst general election defeat since 1935.

His return comes after he found fresh popularity hosting a podcast in the wake of his 2015 general election defeat.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, Shadow Home Secretary

Nick Thomas-Symonds’s route into mainstream politics followed a well-trodden path.

Like so many before him, the new shadow home secretary went to Oxford University, studying politics, philosophy and economics at the turn of the new millennium.

He later trained as a barrister and spent more than a decade lecturing in 20th century British government at his former college.

Nick Thomas-Symonds has been a Labour MP for Torfaen since 2015. Credit: PA

Mr Thomas-Symonds was first elected as the Labour MP for Torfaen, Wales, in May 2015 and holds the distinction of representing the constituency where he was born.

He has also written biographies on two esteemed Labour politicians – Clement Attlee and Nye Bevan, architects of the welfare state and the NHS respectively.

His website states that he lives in the constituency, in Abersychan, with his wife Rebecca, his daughters Matilda and Florence, his son William, and their dog Pippa.

Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

Anneliese Dodds with former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Credit: Ben Birchall/PA

Labour MP for Oxford East since June 2017, Anneliese Dodds previously served under Jeremy Corbyn as a shadow Treasury minister – a position she took up just a month after being elected to Parliament.

Before taking up her seat in Westminster three years ago, the new shadow chancellor represented Oxford as an MEP, where she served on the economic and monetary affairs committee.

In her life before politics, Ms Dodds worked as an academic and it is thought her research focused on public policy and risk in different industries, sectors and nations.

According to her website, housing and investment in public services including the NHS, social care and schools are among her key interests.

Her website also says that she lives on Rose Hill, Oxfordshire, with her partner Ed and two children, Freddie and Isabella.

David Lammy, Shadow Justice Secretary

The Labour MP for Tottenham has held the seat in his home constituency since 2000. Credit: PA

David Lammy, a leading voice against the Windrush scandal who practised as a barrister, was named as shadow justice secretary.

He held ministerial posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, and now makes a return after 10 years to a frontbench position.

The Labour MP for Tottenham has held the seat in his home constituency since 2000.

Prior to politics he practised as a barrister in England and the US and became the first black Briton to study a Masters in Law at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1997.

Since the Grenfell Tower fire David has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the Grenfell families and has has led a high-profile campaign calling on Oxbridge to improve access for students from under-represented backgrounds.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Education Secretary

Rebecca Long-Bailey, who finished second behind Sir Keir in the Labour leadership contest, said she was "delighted" to be appointed shadow education secretary.

Ms Long-Bailey is relatively new to Labour’s ranks, only becoming an MP for Salford and Eccles in 2015.

However the 40-year-old’s rise from the backbenches to the top of the party has been swift.

The former solicitor has been serving as the Labour MP for Salford and Eccles since 2015. Credit: PA

Long-Bailey was rewarded with a role on the front bench as shadow Treasury minister as one of the 35 MPs who nominated Corbyn for leadership in 2015, before being promoted to shadow business secretary in 2017 and appointed as one of the shadow cabinet representatives on Labour’s ruling body.

After being appointed her new role she tweeted: "In this time of crisis I will do my utmost to ensure that our teaching staff, students and their families receive the support they deserve."

"Never has there been a more important time to fight for a properly funded, accountable, public education service, free at the point of use, from cradle to grave so that all our aspirations can be realised. Social mobility is meaningless if we don’t all rise together."

Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

Rachel Reeves, the new shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will next month mark a decade as an MP.

The former Bank of England economist was elected MP for Leeds West in May 2010, and has held a range of positions in the shadow cabinet, including shadow pensions minister, shadow chief secretary to the treasury, and shadow secretary of state for work and pensions.

A long-term friend of killed Labour colleague Jo Cox, mother-of-two Ms Reeves triggered grumbles from some when she announced she would go on maternity leave shortly after the 2015 general election.

She is the sister of Lewisham West and Penge MP Ellie Reeves.

Ms Reeves has campaigned on issues such as abolishing the bedroom tax and reforming debt collection practices.

Emily Thornberry, Shadow International Trade Secretary

Emily Thornberry has been appointed shadow international trade secretary, after Ms Nandy replaced her in the role of shadow foreign secretary.

Prior to entering politics, Thornberry had practised as a barrister specialising in human rights.

Frontbencher Emily Thornberry continued to defend the initial advert Credit: PA

Her political career began in 2005 when she was elected with a small majority of 484 as Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury.

She was returned as MP with an increased majority in 2010 and was promptly promoted to the Shadow Cabinet.

However she resigned from Ed Miliband's team in 2014 amid accusations of snobbery after tweeting a picture of a house with multiple St George's flags outside.

The 57-year-old made a return to the front bench in September 2015 after Jeremy Corbyn appointed her Shadow Employment Minister.

Here is the Labour shadow cabinet in full:

  • Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition

  • Angela Rayner, Deputy Leader and Chair of the Labour Party

  • Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

  • Lisa Nandy, Shadow Foreign Secretary

  • Nick Thomas-Symonds, Shadow Home Secretary

  • Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

  • David Lammy, Shadow Justice Secretary

  • John Healey, Shadow Defence Secretary

  • Ed Miliband, Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Secretary

  • Emily Thornberry, Shadow International Trade Secretary

  • Jonathan Reynolds, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary

  • Jonathan Ashworth, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

  • Rebecca Long-Bailey, Shadow Education Secretary

  • Jo Stevens, Shadow Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

  • Bridget Philipson, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury

  • Luke Pollard, Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary

  • Steve Reed, Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary

  • Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Housing Secretary

  • Jim McMahon, Shadow Transport Secretary

  • Preet Kaur Gill, Shadow International Development Secretary

  • Louise Haigh, Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary (interim while Tony Lloyd is in hospital being treated for coronavirus)

  • Ian Murray, Shadow Scotland Secretary

  • Nia Griffith, Shadow Wales Secretary

  • Marsha de Cordova, Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary

  • Andy McDonald, Shadow Employment Rights and Protections Secretary

  • Rosena Allin-Khan, Shadow Minister for Mental Health

  • Cat Smith, Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Engagement

  • Lord Falconer, Shadow Attorney General

  • Valerie Vaz, Shadow Leader of the House

  • Nick Brown, Opposition Chief Whip

  • Baroness Smith, Shadow Leader of the Lords

  • Lord McAvoy, Lords’ Opposition Chief Whip