May 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle

[11][12] Reports of the change were leaked on 8 May, leading to accusations that Starmer was attempting to shift blame for Labour's election defeats onto his deputy.

[14][15] Burnham's statement, along with comments he had recently made that were critical of the party's "London-centric" focus, was perceived by some as a direct attack on Starmer's leadership.

[18] One of the two shadow cabinet members to leave the Opposition frontbench was Nick Brown, who had served as Chief Whip of the Labour Party under five different leaders.

[19] However, this move was criticised as "inept in the extreme" by John McDonnell, who noted Brown's experience, calling him "one of the most experienced and tactically astute chief whips the party has ever had".

This was heavily criticised both inside and outside the Labour Party, as Nandy is seen as one of the more visible and vocal members of the shadow cabinet representing the North of England.

However, Robert Peston of ITV tweeted that the accusations against Nandy appeared to represent "bunker mentality" and that signs of disloyalty had been "invisible" to him.