A reshuffle of the Shadow Cabinet was undertaken in September 2023, which was described by the media as being dominated by Blairites and demoting MPs on the soft left.

In April 2020, Starmer's shadow cabinet was appointed over the course of the week following the leadership election, which included former leader Ed Miliband, as well as both of the candidates he defeated in the contest.

[10] On 25 June 2020, Starmer dismissed his former leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey from her post as Shadow Secretary of State for Education.

Long-Bailey had refused to delete a tweet calling the actress Maxine Peake an "absolute diamond" and linking to an interview in The Independent in which Peake said that the practice of kneeling on someone's neck by US police, as used in the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, was "learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services".

[18] In the third reading of the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill on 15 October 2020, the Labour Party stance was to abstain yet 34 Labour MPs rebelled, including shadow ministers Dan Carden and Margaret Greenwood, and five parliamentary private secretaries who all resigned from their frontbench roles.

[19] In April 2023, after writing an article in The Observer, former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott was suspended as a Labour MP pending an investigation.

[20] Emily Thornberry expressed her disappointment at not being appointed to a senior ministerial position by Sir Keir Starmer, despite her extensive tenure as shadow attorney general.

She emphasised her contributions to Labour's policies and committed to supporting Starmer's government despite her personal setback.

Starmer dismissed Angela Rayner as Chair of the Labour Party and National Campaign Coordinator following the elections.

[23][24] The move was criticised by John McDonnell, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.

[32] The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston of ITV News said that the reshuffle aimed to "combine experience and youth" and end "the fatuous project of trying to ... placate Labour's warring factions", and instead chose "shadow ministers for their perceived ability".