Labour deputy Angela Rayner clueless about Sir Keir Starmer’s reshuffle as Yvette Cooper returns to frontbench

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer did a surprise Shadow Cabinet reshuffle last night — catching his own deputy on the hop.

In the second rejig this year, ex-Labour minister Yvette Cooper returned to the front bench.

As Shadow Home Secretary, she is tasked with tackling Priti Patel over migrants and crime.

And former Labour leader Ed Miliband was stripped of his business brief after angering Sir Keir on demands to nationalise energy.

Leadership contender Lisa Nandy will go head to head with Michael Gove on levelling up in a demotion from the Shadow Foreign Secretary job.

Rising stars Wes Streeting and Bridget Phillipson were handed the key roles at Health and Education.

Emily Thornberry was demoted to Shadow Attorney General.

And the reshuffle was a humiliating blow to Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, who has made several digs at Sir Keir over recent weeks.

Yesterday morning she was on the radio denying Sir Keir would conduct a reshuffle — just two hours before the Labour leader began one.

She told Times Radio: “No, I’m not aware of any plans for a reshuffle. I reckon that Keir would tell me first, yeah.”

Last night Sir Keir said: “We are a smaller, more focused Shadow Cabinet.”