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3 December 2014

Labour reshuffle: Lord Bach expected to be named shadow attorney general

Peer and shadow foreign office minister set to replace Emily Thornberry. 

By George Eaton

Nearly two weeks on from Emily Thornberry’s resignation as shadow attorney general, Labour appear to be close to announcing her replacement. Shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter had been tipped to take over from the Islington South MP, but a source tells me that shadow foreign office minister Lord Bach, who served as under-secretary of state for justice from 2008-10, is the new holder of the post. 

Another rumoured move is the transfer of shadow welfare reform minister Chris Bryant to a shadow DCMS post. He was said to be “furious” about Rachel Reeves’s recent call for new restrictions on EU migrant benefits in an article for MailOnline. In a recent interview with me, Reeves defended her piece: “We need to make sure that our message reaches all of the electorate . . . and to make sure that we get coverage in all newspapers, including those who might not back us at election time. The reality is there are a lot of Labour voters, there are a lot of floating voters, who read the Daily Mail, the Sun, the Times, and we’ve got to make sure that the people reading those newspapers hear what Labour’s policies are.”

I’ll bring you any more news as I get it. 

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