The real reason behind Keir Starmer's reshuffle

The News Agents

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Monday, 8 September 2025 - 38 minutes

Labour's new home secretary Shabana Mahmood has barely got her feet under the desk, but already the rhetoric out of the home office has changed. Countries that don't "play ball" on migrant returns could lose visas - Mahmood stressing she will do "whatever it takes" to secure Britain's borders and stop the boats.

Her appointment appears to be a tacit admission that Labour's first year has failed on migration - and in response, it looks like Keir Starmer has tacked right in the hope of beating off Reform. On welfare, suggestions too that Labour could be set to reattempt their botched reforms of last term - more pain for Labour's left.

If Starmer's reshuffle pushes this Labour government to the right - how does that fit with Labour's deputy leadership contest? Already senior Labour figures like Andy Burnham have been out of the traps to criticise the shake up and suggest an alternative prospectus for government. And with a contest set to drag on for weeks and weeks, will the race to succeed Angela Rayner risk unpicking Starmer's attempt to show his government has turned a page?

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