Jeremy Corbyn kicks off his latest reshuffle by promoting John McDonnell’s deputy
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is beginning to rebuild his front bench following some high-profile resignations, with Treasury number two Rebecca Long Bailey stepping up to cover the business sector.
Long Bailey served as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, but will replace Clive Lewis as shadow business secretary.
Always a high profile patch, the business remit has taken on more importance since Prime Minister Theresa May came into office, thanks to her zeal for industrial strategy,
Lewis was among the MPs to quit the party's frontbench over Corbyn's orders to vote in favour of the Article 50 Bill, which passed with overwhelming support from MPs yesterday.
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Long Bailey is one of four promotions announced today, with all drawn from the ranks of Labour's 2015 intake.
Peter Dowd will step up to replace Long Bailey as McDonnell's deputy, while the Labour leader has also named Sue Hayman as his shadow environment secretary and Christina Rees as the party's shadow welsh secretary.
All three of the new shadow cabinet members were brought in to Labour's front bench in Corbyn's October reshuffle, with Down and Hayman stepping up from junior roles in the Treasury and Environment teams, respectively.
Rees moves over from her role as a shadow justice minister.