A former primary school teacher has been named as one Labour’s new shadow education ministers.
Mike Kane, MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East, taught at Springfield Primary in Sale, outside Manchester, before embarking in a career in politics.
Mr Kane is part of Labour’s new look shadow ministerial team, which was announced late last night following a major shadow Cabinet reshuffle by the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Kane will be shadowing Nick Gibb, who is minister for school standards.
Joining him is Tulip Siddiq, MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, who will take on the early years portfolio, shadowing Caroline Dineage.
Emma Lewell-Buck, MP for South Shields, has been handed the children and families brief, shadowing Edward Timpson.
Gordon Marsden is the only member of Labour’s education team who will be expected to hold two briefs as he continues to cover both FE and skills, and universities, where the ministers are Rob Halfon and Jo Johnson, respectively.
The appointments mean Labour’s shadow ministerial team is now up to a nearly full complement for the first time following the mass resignations of shadow ministers in protest against Mr Corbyn’s leadership, earlier this year.
Lucy Powell announced her resignation as shadow education secretary back in July; she was replaced by Pat Glass, who quit the role just two days later.
Her replacement, Angela Rayner, has survived the latest reshuffle having emerged as one of the shadow cabinet’s strongest performers. The shadow education secretary received a standing ovation at the Labour Party conference last month after a speech decrying the government’s plans for more grammar schools.