Emily Thornberry breaks silence with three-word dig at Keir Starmer after Cabinet snub
Emily Thornberry was snubbed for the Cabinet role she shadowed when Labour was in opposition.
Emily Thornberry has shared her “sorry and surprise” at being snubbed for the role of Attorney General in Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet.
Ms Thornberry had served as shadow Attorney General when Labour was in opposition but she was not given the Cabinet role after the party won power on Thursday.
Sir Keir opted to make Richard Hermer KC a peer and to give him the role as Attorney General instead.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Ms Thornberry said: “I am very sorry and surprised not to be able to continue that work in government, but I wish alll my brilliant colleagues well, and I know that Richard Hermer KC - a much more accomplished lawyer than I could ever hope to be - will do an outstanding job as Attorney General.
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"Nothing in the personal disappointment I feel can detract from the amazing and historic victory that all of us in the Labour movement worked together to win last week, and the chance that we now have to change our country for the better."
The role of Attorney General is not a Cabinet position but Mr Hermer will attend Cabinet meetings.
In her statement online, Ms Thornberry added: "After eight-and-a-half unbroken years in the Shadow Cabinet, a longer record of service than anyone else in that time, I have always worked my hardest to keep the Labour Party united, support our candidates across the country, take the fight to the Tories, and put a positive case to the British people about what we would do differently, including - most recently - setting out our party's policies to tackle every aspect of the fraud epidemic facing Britain, to support whistleblowers on sexual harassment in the workplace, to protect women in co-habiting relationships, and to treat the crime of stalking with the seriousness it deserves."
Sir Keir Starmer released a raft of ministerial appointments thi morning.
Bridget Phillipson has been made Minister for Women and Equalities in addition to her role as Education Secretary.
Anneliese Dodds has been made a Minister of State in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and a Minister for Women and Equalities. Ms Dodds will attend Cabinet.