Darren Jones, the newest member of the shadow cabinet, has made more appearances than any other member of the shadow cabinet on the breakfast TV round since September.
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, who was parachuted in as Rachel Reeves’ deputy in the last reshuffle, has made 15 appearances in front of Kay Burley and other breakfast presenters.
Parties need to put their strongest communicators out in the morning, suggesting the Labour leader’s office has strong faith in his abilities.
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Election co-ordinator Pat McFadden has appeared 12 times, shadow secretary of state for women and equalities Annelise Dodds was on 10, while McFadden’s deputy Jonathan Ashworth and shadow education secretary Bridget Philipson appeared eight times, tied with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting was on seven.
However many of Starmer’s top team have not appeared much on the breakfast round.
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Angela Rayner has only appeared once at breakfast, which is remarkably low. This does not include the one-to-one with Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby, which was 42 days ago, or the off-camera lunch with political journalists this week.
Another absentee from the morning round is David Lammy, shadow foreign secretary and accomplished broadcaster. He has only made two appearances while Rachel Reeves has done five.
Darren Jones
Meanwhile, on the Tory side, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has appeared just once on the morning round since being appointed to the job in November 2023.
Here is the list in full:
Darren Jones – 15
Pat McFadden – 12
Anneliese Dodds – 10
Jonathan Ashworth – 9
Jonathan Reynolds – 9
Bridget Phillipson – 8
Yvette Cooper – 8
Wes Streeting – 7
John Healey – 6
Nick Thomas-Symonds – 5
James Murray – 5
Ellie Reeves – 5
Rachel Reeves – 5
Steve Reed – 4
Chris Bryant – 4
Thangam Debbonaire – 4
Tulip Siddiq – 4
Liz Kendall – 4
Alex Norris – 3
Keir Starmer – 3
Peter Kyle – 3
Sarah Jones – 3
Lisa Nandy – 3
David Lammy – 2
Lucy Powell – 2
Ian Murray – 1
Luke Pollard – 1
Andrew Gwynne – 1
Angela Rayner – 1
Louise Haigh – 1
Emily Thornberry – 1
Catherine McKinnell – 1