Friday 8 October 2010

Shadow cabinet election results

The members of Ed Miliband's new shadow cabinet were announced tonight amid intense speculation over who will scoop the top jobs.

Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls were both successful in the secret ballot of Labour's parliamentary party, and the married couple are thought to be vying for the coveted shadow chancellor role.

Miliband has signalled that he will take his time finalising the line-up of his team, with no formal appointments expected until tomorrow morning.

Cooper topped the ballot for the shadow cabinet, followed by John Healey, the former housing minister, and Balls, according to Labour sources.

Eight women won places on the 19-strong team, including – for the first time – Mary Craigh, Angela Eagle, Maria Eagle and Meg Hillier. But Diane Abbott, who stood in the leadership contest, missed out.

Douglas Alexander and Jim Murphy, the campaign organisers for the David Miliband campaign were elected.

Other senior figures successfully returned include former cabinet ministers Alan Johnson and Andy Burnham.

But there were also losers, such as ex-Welsh secretary Peter Hain, former culture secretary Ben Bradshaw and ex-Northern Ireland secretary Shaun Woodward, all of whom did not make the list