Jeremy Corbyn holds talks with shadow cabinet members on reshuffle

Ken Livingstone, the former Mayor of London and close ally of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has said it is “quite likely” that Hilary Benn could lose his post as Shadow Foreign Secretary as Corbyn reshuffles his shadow cabinet.

Maria Eagle, the shadow defence secretary, was said to be facing the sack after repeatedly clashing with Mr Corbyn over air strikes in Syria and Britain’s Trident nuclear deterrent.

“It might well be the case – and I have no knowledge of this – that it would be better to move Hilary Benn to something where he is in agreement with Jeremy Corbyn rather than where he is in disagreement”.

In addition the veteran MP Diane Abbott is expected to be rewarded for her loyalty to Mr Corbyn but she has dismissed suggestions she could replace Mr Benn as “poppycock and piffle”.

All have had public disputes with Mr Corbyn since being appointed four months ago – leading critics to brand the latest shake-up a “revenge reshuffle“.

Asked if she thought Mr Benn was doing a good job, she said: “I think all my colleagues are doing a good job and we want to be holding the Government to account over their decisions and we have seen a number of them doing that over the Christmas break”.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy secretary, was on Monday tipped to take Ms Eagle’s role as shadow defence secretary while Emily Thornberry, a shadow work and pensions minister, was tipped for the justice role.

“So I have some sympathy with the need to create a uniform, coherent strategy and policy agenda from the top and it’s incumbent on the leader to make sure that he has the team that he feels comfortable about in terms of articulating his vision and is consistent with Labour Party policy”.

“And it’s not illegitimate to remove a shadow foreign secretary who speaks for a minority of both the party and the PLP”.

The Labour leader began the delicate process of his first reshuffle of the shadow cabinet since his election in September to create “coherence” in the Labour party on areas at the heart of his leadership campaign.

But reshuffles do matter, because they are a test of the authority of political leaders.

“I think what Jeremy has to do is putting together the team in the way he wants it and then refocus this debate about the economy”, the former mayor told the BBC.

Labour MP John Woodcock, who has been critical of Mr Corbyn, questioned the timing of the reshuffle and pointed out the party had had a free vote on airstrikes in Syria.

She has publicly criticised Mr Corbyn over his strong opposition to renewing Trident and is expected to be moved to a job where she shares more in common with the leadership.

He added: “If Jeremy Corbyn offered me that and said, ‘I need this, I need you to do it, this is essential that you do it, ‘ I would have to think about it…”

“It keeps me awake at night”, he told Pienaar’s Politics. I’m against for example a new runway at Heathrow, but unlike Jeremy Corbyn I’m very much in favour of a new runway at Gatwick Airport because I see the benefits of a increase in aviation capacity to jobs and growth.