by Atul Hatwal
The fate of the triumvirate of demoted Blairites – Jim Murphy, Liam Byrne and Stephen Twigg – has dominated reporting of Labour’s reshuffle. This is understandable.
It’s no coincidence that the cadre of senior shadow cabinet ministers most associated with Tony Blair were demoted while Brownite contemporaries from the same parliamentary generation remained untouched.
Despite the party spin about this being no cull of Blairites, bringing in some bright young things from the 2010 parliamentary intake who might once have danced to, “Things can only get better,” at a Labour students’ conference disco, sometime in the late nineties, hardly constitutes a like for like exchange.
It’s clear why the media would focus on these changes, if less explicable why each of the victims would accept such treatment rather than retain their political dignity on the backbenches.
But for all the columns of words expended considering these changes, they only obscure the most politically significant appointment: Jon Trickett as deputy chair to lead on party reform.
For Ed Miliband, the early part of next year will be defined by his efforts to reform Labour’s relationship with the unions. The first special conference in nearly twenty years will be the culmination of months of lobbying, campaigning and media briefing.
When Ed Miliband announced the Collins review, four MPs were highlighted as having roles in the process. Harriet Harman and Phil Wilson to lead the campaign in the country and Rachel Reeves and Jon Trickett to look at the potential for wider reforms.
Now Jon Trickett, a man steeped in the union movement and close to several of the leaders, has been appointed deputy party chair with lead responsibility for party reform, the dynamic has changed – and it reveals much of the leadership’s thinking.
At Labour conference, one of the persistent topics for discussion was whether Ed Miliband would be able to get his reforms through. There was a lot of shaking of heads at the prospect of the package passing the NEC, let alone even 10% of union members joining the party, given the majority of trade union leaders are so hostile.
The Trickett appointment sends a message that the Labour leadership are worried. This is not going to be a campaign where Ed Miliband appeals over the heads of union leaders to the rank and file membership of the Labour movement. Jon Trickett as deputy party chair tells us that Ed Miliband wants to do a deal with the union bosses.
