Ed Miliband has been tipped to make a return to the front bench as the shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The former Labour leader would replace John McDonnell in the position in move that has been described as a masterstroke by certain Tory MPs.
Stephen Bush of the New Statesman reported that many of Keir Starmer’s inner circle are admirers of the Doncaster North MP.
He said opposition MPs “aren’t laughing” at the idea of him returning to the front bench with Starmer as leader.
Several older Conservative MPs highlighted that throughout his time in opposition, David Cameron’s shadow foreign secretary was William Hague, a man who led the Conservative party to their second-worst defeat in history.
The comparatives would be stark.
Momentum chief
Starmer received a significant boost to his campaign today after a former Momentum chief and aide to Jeremy Corbyn backed him in the Labour leadership race.
Laura Parker, who worked as national coordinator of the grassroots group until December and private secretary to the outgoing Labour leader, has thrown her support behind Sir Keir, praising him for having “placed unifying the party at the heart of his mission and made an unequivocal commitment to preserving our core policies”.
She wrote in a blog for the LabourList website: “With a drive to unify our party around a radical programme, the experience to oversee the rebuilding and management of our complex party machine and the skills and determination to take on the Tories, Keir Starmer can become a great party leader.
“If we – over half a million members – accept and rise to the challenge of supporting him in this endeavour, then we will become more than the sum of our individual parts and also a great party.”
Ms Parker added Sir Keir had committed to “preserving our core policies” that when polled individually “have significant support from the public”.
Related: Labour’s John McDonnell says Julian Assange should not be extradited to US
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