BRITISH LABOUR leader Ed Miliband has suffered a major setback just months into his leadership, following the decision of his shadow chancellor Alan Johnson to resign for personal reasons.
The dramatic departure of Mr Johnson, who is thought to have performed well in the second most important role in the shadow cabinet, has forced Mr Miliband to appoint one of his rivals for the leadership, Ed Balls, to the role.
Speaking shortly after the announcement, the Labour leader made a number of pointed declarations that Mr Balls would follow the economic strategy set out by himself and Mr Johnson, which Mr Balls believes does not attack the government’s spending cuts enough.
Mr Johnson said he was standing down from the shadow cabinet for “family and personal reasons”, and went on: “I have found it difficult to cope with these personal issues in my private life whilst carrying out an important frontbench role.” However, he gave no further details, though it is believed to be on account of matters of the heart, and not health, nor finances.
Mr Miliband and Mr Balls had a difficult relationship when they worked for Gordon Brown in the treasury during the latter’s time as chancellor of the exchequer. Mr Balls was the senior of the two.
Accepting the job, Mr Balls said: “Over the past few months, Alan and Ed have set out a clear direction on economic policy and challenged the Conservative-led government’s false claim that our investment in schools, hospitals and police, rather than the global financial crisis, caused the deficit. Our task ahead is to take on George Osborne and David Cameron’s decision to cut too far and too fast, recklessly putting jobs and growth at risk. We will set out to the public that there is an alternative: a fair economy which puts jobs and growth first.”
Mr Johnson’s decision was greeted with delight in No 10 Downing Street, where Mr Cameron had been under pressure earlier in the day over claims by the parents of a disabled child that he had gone back on a promise to offer extra state help to those struggling to care for their children at home.
However, the change brings both dangers and advantages for the Conservative/Liberal Democrats alliance, since Mr Balls will be a much more vigorous opponent in the House of Commons for George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer.
On the other hand, Mr Balls had a leading role to play in some of the economic decisions that led to the banking collapse of 2007/08, which Mr Osborne will seek to exploit.
The Johnson decision has prompted a wider reshuffle of the Labour shadow cabinet. Mr Balls’s wife, Yvette Cooper, moves from foreign to home affairs, while Douglas Alexander – the best performer in Mr Miliband’s team in recent months – replaces Ms Cooper. The three, along with Mr Miliband, were all Brown loyalists in the past.
Mr Alexander is replaced in the shadow work and pensions brief – a key one given the economic climate – by Liam Byrne.
