Labour’s wee reshuffle

I think Labour are hoping their MPs can’t count.

Their front bench in Parliament has eight seats, not 12. They’re just hoping Clark, Woods, Parker and Mahuta don’t notice.

Also I’ve never heard of a Shadow Cabinet of 22. Cabinet has 20 MPs. Are they planning to enlarge it? Also the reality is that at their current level of polling, they’d only get 60% to 70% of the Cabinet seats as they are 60% to 70% of the combined opposition vote. So the number who might make Cabinet are probably 12 – 14, not 22.

The promotion of Davis and demotion of Mahuta is no surprise, and the right thing to do. And their top eight are basically their strongest MPs, and are the nucleus of an alternative Government.

So overall a sensible minor reshuffle. Their job now is to spend the next two years not just being an effective Opposition, but also looking like a coherent alternative Government.