Alan Johnson shocked Westminster today by resigning as Shadow Chanellor for "personal reasons to do with my family". Ed Balls is the new Shadow Chancellor.
Alan Johnson shocked Westminster today by resigning as Shadow Chanellor for “personal reasons to do with my family”.
Ed Miliband has immediately shuffled his team, with Ed Balls replacing Johnson, Yvette Cooper replacing Balls as shadow home secretary and Douglas Alexander replacing Cooper as shadow foreign secretary.
Liam Byrne becomes shadow work and pensions secretary alongside his responsibilities for the Labour Party policy review, and Tessa Jowell becomes Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office alongside her responsibilities for the Olympics.
In his resignation letter to Miliband, Johnson wrote:
“I have decided to resign from the Shadow Cabinet for personal reasons to do with my family. I have found it difficult to cope with these issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important front bench role…
“You are proving to be a formidable Leader of the Labour Party and will take the party from strength to strength in the years to come.”
With Miliband replying:
“It has always been clear that you never lost sight of the reasons which first brought you into politics. As Shadow Chancellor you spoke clearly to the public, warning of the dangers posed by the gamble the Government is taking with growth and jobs…
“I wish you all the best at this difficult time.”
Below is a full list of the newly reshuffled Shadow Cabinet:
Leader of the Opposition
Rt Hon Ed Miliband MPDeputy Leader of the Labour Party, Shadow Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Rt Hon Harriet Harman MPShadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Rt Hon Ed Balls MPShadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Rt Hon Douglas Alexander MPShadow Secretary of State for the Home Department and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Rt Hon Yvette Cooper MPChief Whip
Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MPShadow Secretary of State for Education and Election Coordinator
Rt Hon Andy Burnham MPShadow Lord Chancellor, Secretary of State for Justice (with responsibility for political and constitutional reform)
Rt Hon Sadiq Khan MPShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (with responsibility for the policy review)
Rt Hon Liam Byrne MPShadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills
Rt Hon John Denham MPShadow Secretary of State for Health
Rt Hon John Healey MPShadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Rt Hon Caroline Flint MPShadow Secretary of State for Defence
Rt Hon Jim Murphy MPShadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Angela Eagle MPShadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Meg Hillier MPShadow Leader of the House of Commons
Rt Hon Hilary Benn MPShadow Secretary of State for Transport
Maria Eagle MPShadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mary Creagh MPShadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Rt Hon Shaun Woodward MPShadow Secretary of State for Scotland
Ann McKechin MPShadow Secretary of State for Wales
Rt Hon Peter Hain MPShadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Ivan Lewis MPShadow Leader of the House of Lords
Rt Hon Baroness Royall of BlaisdonShadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and the Olympics
Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MPLords Chief Whip
Rt Hon Lord Bassam of BrightonShadow Attorney-General
Rt Hon Baroness Scotland of Ashtal QC
20 Responses to “Johnson resigns as Shadow Chancellor – Balls takes over”
scandalousbill
If Balls appointment means a shift toward a more positive growth oriented critique of Tory led coalition policy, it should be a favourable change. However, give AJ his dues. He did have a strong capability to highlight the impacts of Tory policies on people’s lives. If Balls can carry on this approach and focus it with his economic knowledge and Treasury experience, Labour could clearly take things up a notch. Osbourneomiocs are abysmal, they simply placate the old school elites and we could have a real opportunity to demonstrate this weakness.
Mr. Sensible
Johnson, as others have pointed out, was seen as the peoples’ politician due to where he came from.
Lets see how Ed Balls gets on.
Anon E Mouse
Ed Ballls will remind everyone of just how awful Labour were in office once Brown was forced on the public. All the books by Campbell, Mandleson, Watts etc were shown to be true and Miliband’s weakness in promoting Balls, another Son Of Brown, just months after not giving him the job makes the coalition’s job even easier.
This is a stupid move by Ed Miliband and to see the Brownites in the shadow cabinet means Labour really have learned nothing since they got rid of the greatest Labour leader ever Tony Blair…
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
william
Defeat 2015,defeat 2019,…
Éoin Clarke
I can think of a lot of reasons as to why Ed Balls message is relevant…
Britain faces its toughest economic period in most of our lifetime, and yet so few people understand why. Thus, when anyone reports on economic matters, often it looks like they are talking down the economy. Let me try to explain why that is not the case. The growth figures for the UK economy are announced on 28 January at 8.30am for the last quarter of 2010. We know that the economy grew at 1.1% in the second three months of 2010. We know the economy grew at 0.7% in the third three months of 2010. In the last quarter of 2010, the figures will slow again, but by how much we do not yet know. Don’t get me wrong, the economy could still technically be in growth, but that growth will be grinding towards stagnation. Really growth needs to be 2% per annum to be comfortably out of recession. For example, only with growth above 2% does the economy start to see a reduction in unemployment, and even then it isn’t guaranteed. Thus when Q4 figures report and say for example produce a figure of 0.4%, this in effect means that the economy could still be shedding jobs. We already know that inflation grew at 3.7% in December. Add to that a fuel tariff, an increase in energy companies’ prices and a rise in 2.5% VAT and we can say with certainty that inflation will be heading towards 6% in January. Fuel is almost £1.40 a litre and wages are only growing at 1.9% per annum, as of December. That in effect means that people are getting poorer every waking day of their lives. Housing is already officially in a double dip recession, as is unemployment. The growth in housing and employment seen in Q2 of this year has already dissipated. What is most worrying is that, all of this is has occurred before the cuts have even begun.
Blairites need to give Ed B a chance.. Growth works.