RISING Labour star Rebecca Long-Bailey has been promoted to the role of Shadow Business Secretary as Jeremy Corbyn filled the vacancies left by a raft of resignations over his position on the Brexit Bill.
The 37-year-old MP for Salford and Eccles replaces Clive Lewis, who was one of four Shadow Cabinet ministers to resign so they could defy the party leader over his order that all Labour MPs back the triggering of the Article 50 bill.
John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, tweeted: “Rebecca Long Bailey was brilliant on #bbcqt with convincing common sense answers. Next generation of our socialist leadership team emerging.” Such comments will begin speculation that Ms Long-Bailey is being groomed as a potential future leader and a possible successor to Mr Corbyn.
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Other appointments, all of whom come from Labour’s 2015 intake, are:
*Sue Hayman, the MP for Workington in Cumbria, as Shadow Environment Secretary after the resignation of Rachael Maskell;
*Christina Rees, the MP for Neath in south Wales, as Shadow Welsh Secretary, replacing Jo Stevens, who resigned and
*Peter Dowd, the MP for Bootle on Merseyside, replaces Ms Long-Bailey as Shadow Chief Secretary while
*no replacement for Dawn Butler as Shadow Communities Minister has been announced although it is not thought the role is being abolished.
Responding to the changes, one Labour MP noted: “I've just had to Google two of our latest appointments to the Shadow Cabinet."
Conservative HQ noted how this was Mr Corbyn's fourth reshuffle and yet nothing had changed.
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"Labour remain completely out of touch with the concerns of ordinary, working people and are divided, divisive and unfit to govern," said a party spokesman.
Labour said that the gaps in more junior frontbench roles created by the reshuffle - as well as the resignation of former Early Years spokeswoman Tulip Siddiq over Brexit - would be filled "in due course".
Expectations are now high that there will be no mass sacking of the 11 junior shadow ministers and three whips who were also among the 52 Labour MPs to rebel in Wednesday's vote. This is set to open up Mr Corbyn to attack from the Conservatives on the issue of leadership.
Earlier, the Labour leader denied that the departures from his frontbench team amounted to a "disaster", despite Tory claims that they had exposed the party as "hopelessly divided" over Brexit.
Mr Corbyn said he had ordered his MPs to walk through the voting lobby with the Government because the party had to carry through the result of last year's EU referendum.
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Speaking to the BBC, he also dismissed rumours that he was preparing to quit the party's top job as "absolute nonsense" and accused the broadcaster of peddling "fake news".
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