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Newly elected Labour Party chief SIR Keir Stammer names Lisa Nandy as Shadow Foreign Secretary

Labour reshuffle: Keir Starmer appoints ex rival Lisa Nandy as ...

SIR KEIR Starmer, 57, lawyer turned politico, claiming to be Socialist, who has been elected leader of the Labour Party, UK’s principal opposition in Parliament, has vowed to give it a new lease of life. He succeeds Jeremy Corbyn who was unable to stop migration of its traditional and committed support base to the ruling Conservative party Sir Keir defeated Lisa Nandy of Indian origin   and Rebecca Long-Bailey. He became an MP in 2015 and won on the first round of voting, with more than 50% of ballots cast. After his victory, Sir Keir spoke to PM Boris Johnson and agreed to meet next week to discuss the coronavirus crisis. In a video message released by the Labour Party, Sir Keir promised to work constructively in opposition and said he hoped Labour “when the time comes can serve our country again. And he apologised for the “stain” of anti-Semitism that has tainted Labour in recent years. He pledged to “tear out this poison by its roots” and said his success would be judged on whether former Jewish members return to Labour. Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has been elected deputy leader, replacing Tom Watson, who stood down as an MP before the election. She defeated four other candidates but the contest was much closer, going to the third round of voting. The 40-year old Ms Rayner beat Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon in the third round of voting, after fellow MPs Ian Murray and Dawn Butler had earlier been eliminated. Saturday’s result was announced by e-mail after plans for a public event were dropped due to the coronavirus across the UK. Sir Keir has made Lisa Nandy, 40, UK born daughter of an Indian Marxist, his shadow foreign secretary, and Anneliese Dodds, who became an MP in 2017, his shadow chancellor. Speaking before the first top appointments, the new  Labour leader promised he would create a shadow cabinet balanced between the various wings of the party. However, there is no clarity about the role for Rebecca  Long-Bailey, the former leader’s confidante  BBC says Just over 490,000 people voted, out of the 784,151 eligible to take part in the three-month contest post Corbyn’s decision to step down after Labour’s heavy defeat in last year’s general election. Sir Keir won a majority in every section of Labour’s electorate, including 78% of the 13,000 registered supporters who paid a one-off £25 fee to take part. The 40-year old Ms Rayner beat Rosena Allin-Khan and Richard Burgon in a third round of voting, after fellow MPs Ian Murray and Dawn Butler had earlier been eliminated. Sir Keir called himself socialist but not a Corbynite, and vowed to keep key policies from the Corbyn era, such as nationalising rail, mail and water and repealing anti-union laws  in a 10-point plan. Outgoing shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who backed Ms Long-Bailey, urged the party to “unite now as a movement to achieve our socialist aim”.Sir Keir received an early boost after his supporters won effective control of Labour’s National Executive Committee, the party’s ruling body, following a series of separate elections. BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg has said Sir Keir’s team had not been expecting a clean sweep and it would make it much easier for him to run the party and make any changes he wanted. Nandy, whose elevation has surprised the Labour outfit, during the campaign said Labour must “change or die”. On foreign affairs, she was critical of what she said was the disinclination of Corbyn and his team to criticise Russia, and she called for a more positive defence of international values.In a tweet following her elevation , Nandy wrote: “It’s a real honour to be tasked with leading Labour’s foreign policy response in these difficult times. “Anyway, the Labour Party led by Sir Keir has a herculean task in Brexit UK facing multiple problems. Hence his role will be keenly watched in the fast changing  geo-political scenario (Edited by @chakravartypk with courtesy to inews.co.uk)

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